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PANAMA PICTURES 

Nature and Life 



Land 


of the Great Canal 




BY 


MICHAEL DELEVANTE 




J0^ 




NEW YORK 


ALDEN BROTHERS | 




Publishers 



fudHASY of congress] 

Two Cooies Received 

OCT 16 «90f 

Cooyneht Entry 

jcffy /f (toy 

CLASS'/I ' XXC, No. 
COPY B. 

,11,1 ■'■ ir- mil I iiri I .»i~»~ac«a 



Copyright 1907 

BY 

Michael Delevante). 



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THIS BOOK IS 

LOVINGLY DEDICATED 

TO 

MY WIFE, ALETHIA, 

IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF 

HER VALUABLE CO-OPERATION. 



INTKODUCTION. 

For the truth of everything that has been 
written in this volume, the author vouches. 

Across The Panama Isthmus is an 
up-to-date Sketch of the Isthmus, of Isth- 
mian life and manners, of the Canal, and 
the present improved conditions, so much in 
contrast with those depicted in the Story of 
An Unheeded Warning. Should Across 
The Panama Isthmus succeed in the mis- 
sion on which I send it out, I shall then 
have been most amply rewarded in the vin- 
dication of the Isthmus of Panama. 

A Tale op the old Washington House 
should not fail to entertain all those 
Avho are interested in Isthmian life of 
the Past ; in the sayings and doings of men 
in the early period written of; and in the 
history of one of the oldest Panama Rail 
Eoad land-marks that graced the Atlantic 
Terminus. Possibly, there are still a few 
of the Old Boys living yet, whose names, in 



vi INTRODUCTION. 

disguise, are associated with tlie incidents 
portrayed, and whom the Story will reach, 
eventually, in its wanderings about the 
World. Should such be the happy circum- 
stance, it is to be hoped that it will take 
their memories back to the good times and 
the happy days they spent in the dear Old 
Washington House, of which I, too, have 
some very pleasant recollections. 

An Unheeded Warning is a Story 
dealing with the mad influx of people from 
abroad, almost immediately after the sign- 
ing of the Canal Treaty between the Repub- 
lic of Panama and the United States Gov- 
ernment, and the unfortunate results which 
the early rush led up to. The story is a true 
one, with, of course, the usual little embel- 
lishments, here and there, which go towards 
the adornment of a Tale. 

Michael Delevante. 

Colon, Republic of Panama, January 1, 
1907. 



Across The Panama Isthmus 13 

A Tale of the Old Washington House. 87 
An Unheeded Warning 143 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Statue of Columbus Front Cover. 

The Great Culebra Cut .Frontispiece 

Panama Bay — see page 15 13 

"Palm Avenue," Cristobal — see page 27 14 

Pier 4, Harbor of Colon 15 

Pier II, Harbor of Cristobal — see page 28 16 

Interior View of Pier 11 17 

Pier 14, Harbor of Cristobal — see page 28 18 

Interior view of Pier 14 19 

The Beach, Colon — see page 23 22 

The two famous De Lesseps' Palaces at Cristobal — 

see page 27 ' 23 

The I. C. C. Hospitals, Colon ; view from the shore 24 

The I. C. C. Hospitals, view from the sea 25 

Front Street, Colon, in 1885 26 

Front Street, Colon, in 1907 27 

Mr. W. G. Tubby, Chief of the Division of Material 

and Supplies — see page 27 28 

Entrance to Cristobal Harbor — see page 28 29 

Mr. John F. Stevens, Chief Engineer of the I. C. C. 30 
Mr. W. G. Bierd, General Manager of the Panama 

Rail Road Company — see page 30 31 

The new machine-shops at Cristobal — see page 29.. 32 
Exterior view of the I. C. C. Warehouse at Mount 

Hope — see page 31 33 

Interior view of the I. C. C. Warehouse 34 

Native Village of Gatun— see page 33 35 

Site of the great Dam at Gatun— see page 35 36 

Loading Bananas at Gatun— see page 35 37 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Christ Church, Colon — see page 2i^ 38 

Bolivar Street, Colon, after the fire of March, 1885 40 

A Gruesome picture of the fire of March, 1885.... 41 

Gorgona Station 42 

Bas Obispo in 1884 52 

Bas Obispo in 1907 53 

Across the Bas Obispo River — see page 52 54 

"Camp Elliott" Headquarters- of the American 

Marines — see page 53 55 

Empire in 1883 56 

Empire in 1907 57 

Culebra in 1884 — see page 61 6d 

The Great Culebra Cut 64 

The Great Culebra Cut — a charge of 6,000 lbs. of 

dynamite and 25 tons of Black Pow^der going up. 65 
President Roosevelt and Party going through the 

Culebra Cut 66 

The Residence of Mr. Jno. F. Stevens, Chief Engi- 
neer, at Culebra — see page 66 67 

A bit of the Culebra Deviation — see page 67 68 

The Rio Grande Lake — see page 67 70 

Bridge spanning the Rio Grande — see page 67 71 

The Cathedral Square, Panama — see page 71 72 

The Bovedas, Panama — see page 71 y^, 

The I. C. C. Hospitals, at Ancon, Panama 74 

The I. C. C. Tivoli Hotel at Panama — see page 70 75 
Steel Pier at La Boca, on the Pacific side, built by 

the French — see page 74 76 

Pier at La Boca, built by the L C. C 77 

The Old Washington House 87 

The Old Washington House— see page 87 i39 



Across the Panama Isthmus 



Across the Panama-Isthmus. 

On one fine morning, in the Veranito 
month of October, 1906, the watchman, 
whose beat was around the Washington 
House and the neighboring cottages on the 
Beach, came to my room-door, in accordance 
with instructions given to him the night be- 
fore, and, rapping upon it impatiently, sang 
out to me, in that half-dreamy tone of voice 
which smacks of a stolen wink or two: 

"It's half past four, ScnorF' 

As further evidence that the fellow had 
really been sleei:)ing at his post of dut}^, I 
heard him yawn, deep-mouthed and long, 
as I answered back to him : 

"All right, Sereno — I've heard you — 
muchisimas gracias !" 

But to make it doubly sure, it seems, that 
both of us were awake, he rapped again and 
repeated more coherently : 

"It's half past four, SefiorF' 

This time there was a deeper ring of im- 
patience in his voice, and, pervading it, a 
tone of evident fear that his reputation as 



14 PANAMA PICTURES. 

a watchman was at serious stake, and — yes, 
perhaps, he thought, his job too. 

In order, however, to relieve his anxiety, 
and to convince him that I was up and 
about the room, busying myself over the 
morning's journey, I was compelled to go 
out to him, just as I was — in my "brief gar- 
ments" — and thank him once again for hav- 
ing succeeded in calling me on time ! 

Then I returned to my room, and started 
to get myself ready for the train which 
leaves Colon at 5.30 A. M., and by which I 
had arranged to take a run across the Pan- 
ama-Isthmus. 

After I had got dressed, I hurriedly par- 
took of a cup of coffee, which had been 
drawn for me from the night before; and 
then, I went out to the hush and quiet of the 
streets, wending mj way to the railroad sta- 
tion, which was not far off. 

It was a wonder-lovely morning! There 
was a strong, fresh breeze blowing from the 
south, which convulsed the stately cocoa- 
nut trees that strewed their golden blossoms 
on the pavements. 



NATURE AND LIFE. 15 

Belike the Watchman, the Sun was just 
then half aAvakened from his slumbers; but 
I could see, glimmering in the distance, the 
wondrously- woven heralds of his coming; 
for the fair Santa Rita Hills, across the 
Bay, were draped Avith clouds of amethyst 
and gold, that cast their dream-hued shad- 
ows upon the waters, and kissed the silver 
orient into dawning. 

It was exactly 5.30 A. M. when I reached 
the railroad station. There were still a 
few clouds of the night before lingering in, 
and overshadowing, the east; but the elec- 
tric lights, which were still burning bright- 
ly, succeeded in robbing the Morning of her 
pending darkness. 

As I landed on the platform, I was just in 
time to hear the last ring upon the gong 
against the wall, and the conductor sing 
out: 

"All aboard !" in a voice that might have 
been heard around the entire neighborhood. 
Then the engine bell swung to and fro and 
sounded the usual warning; after which the 
whistle tooted shrilly; and just as the train 



16 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

began to move slowly out of the station, the 
brass-buttoned gentleman jumped upon the 
baggage-car with a graceful swing of his ac- 
customed legs. 

These preparatory manoeuvres, which the 
dauntless engineer had just gone through, 
reminded me, at once, of the facetious and 
gesticulative manner in which, in years gone 
by, a friend of mine was wont to comment 
upon them after he had seen the daily trains 
move out from the station. 

On each occasion he would come to me, 
and, with the positive delight of a child il- 
luming his always-ruddy countenance, 
would say, in his usual laconic and discon- 
nected stjde, as he shook the first finger of 
his right hand at me : 

"Engineer's — job — soft — job — see? — 

"Toot — Toot!" and, then, he would turn 
an imaginary lever around, as he sang out, 
to the finish : 

"PANAMA!" 

This was the peculiar and original way 
which my friend had, always, of classifying 




',:m»^im-C!' 



NATURE AND LIFE. IT 

an engineer's job on the Isthmus — at a time, 
too, when bullets were buzzing like bees 
along the line of the railroad, and when an 
engineer, full many and many a time, as 
most of us know, was compelled to bring his 
Iron Horse to a sudden halt, or get the con- 
tents of two Mauser-rifles emptied, forth- 
with, into his anatomy ! 

But then, perhaps, my friend did not ap- 
preciate, to the fullest extent, the danger 
that an engineer incurred running over the 
road in those trying and troublous days, 
when, oftentimes, he had, in order to main- 
tain the service, to run the gauntlet through 
the thick firing line! 

No, sir ! — when it came to a just compari- 
son of jobs, my friend's, in the balance, was, 
certainly, the lighter of the two, since his 
was only to sit down all day long, in a com- 
fortable chair in the office of the G. S. and 
hammer away at his Remington until he got 
tired, when he'd bluff, for minutes and min- 
utes, upon the right-hand shift-key -of his 
typewriter to make believe that he was 
working hard. 



18 PANA3IA PICTURES, 

But, perhaps, the man behind the Rem- 
ington thought that he, too, was a hero in 
his own way, even if he did face a harmless 
typewriter and a shorthand book only. 



NATURE AND LIFE. 19 



PAKT II. 

When Ruskin said that travelling by rail 
was like being sent from place to place like 
so many packages, it is evident that, before 
making the comparison, he had not "dipped 
into the future, far as human eyes could 
see;" nor, to paraphrase Tennyson, did he 
see then, the' vision of Panama, or the 
glories that, sooner or later, were destined 
to be hers, by reason of her unique geograph- 
ical position among the Nations of the 
World, and that would, eventually, make a 
railroad ride over a beautiful tropical 
stretch of forty-seven miles of country, a 
thing never to be forgotten ! 

Be this as it may, however, a trip across 
the Isthmus of Panama has always been a 
most delightful and interesting experience 
for me; but on the present occasion, with 
which this article deals, I must say that I 
was more deeply impressed than ever before, 
on account of the marked improvements 



20 PANAMA PICTURES. 

which I had noticed all along the line of the 
railroad, and which, summed up to a grand 
total, amounted, so to speak, to a veritable 
resurrection of things, long dead, from the 
graveyard of 1888, when the French retired, 
to the living present period of 1906 ! 

The rejuvenation which the various sta- 
tions had undergone since the advent of the 
Americans, was patent everywhere — in 
short, the transformation was simply won- 
derful; for it seemed scarcely credible that 
so much good work could have been accom- 
plished in such a comparatively short space 
of time, in a tropical country, too, where 
things, as a rule, enjoy the unenviable repu- 
tation abroad of moving slowly on, and — 
manana-like to a close. 

But, forgetting our critics for the time, 
and remembering this, only: "The Truth 
does not hurt — it thrills," let me, for the 
benefit of those who are real lovers of the 
Truth, and who are friends of Panama, pro- 
ceed with this truthful sketch of the Isth- 
mus, and of the railroad ride I had across it 
^ few mornings ago, 



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NATURE AND LIFE. 21 

Comfortably seated in one of the new, pa- 
latial passenger-cars, which had lately been 
put into service, I watched the beautiful 
fields stretch out in all their pensive quiet- 
ness — the peaceful flow of the lakes and 
rivers, as our train dashed madly by — puff- 
ing — panting — snorting — eager, it seemed, 
for the end of its journey. 

The scene was simply enchanting: the 
whole view of the surrounding country lay 
before me like a beautiful panorama; for 
the Jungle-wood, all around and about it, 
was wild-flower dotted, while the air was 
cool and balmy, and redolent of those 
strange, soft odors, which are natural to the 
tropics I On the trees of the green, dense 
forests, the rains, which had fallen the night 
before, had left their heavenly benedictions 
in large, white crystal drops, which scin- 
tillated beneath the rays of the early morn- 
ing sun, until it seemed as though you were 
being hurried through fields upon fields of 
myriad and myriad of diamonds ! 

And yet, despite of all these beauties sur- 
rounding us ; despite of all that has been ac- 



22 PANAMA PICTURES. . 

complished, and that still is doing on the 
great world-work of uniting two oceans, we 
are "coolly" told by our "friends" abroad, 
that we live beyond the pale of civilization 
— that we are making no progress on the 
Canal whatever — spending money, only, 
and "sawing wood," as the paradoxical say- 
ing goes. 

But this, no doubt, is the light in which 
we are seen by those who have had their pro- 
verbial axes to grind, but whose repeated 
approaches have been repulsed by the hon- 
est Grindstones, that have refused to revolve 
around their independent axles — irrespon- 
sive to the touch of wooing blades, whose 
disappointments have ever been vented 
through the frenzied passions of venal pens I 
And yet, if the sun paints true, as it must 
always, for God is Truth, perhaps the photo- 
graphs which accompany this little sketch 
of mine, when compared with the pictures 
of the Past, will serve as ample testimony to 
the glorious achievements of the present 
day. 



MATURE AND LIFE. 23 



PART IV. 

The Isthmus of Panama, which lies east 
and west on the map, is crossed by a long 
chain of low-lying mountains, whose ex- 
treme altitudes do not exceed a thousand 
feet at any point along the line of the rail- 
road. 

Colon, the Atlantic terminus, once known 
as Aspinwall, and so named by the first 
American comers in memory of the father of 
the Panama Railroad, is a small, flourish- 
ing town, about one mile long, and situated 
on the Island of Manzanillo. 

To passengers on the in-coming steamers, 
the harbor presents a most picturesque ap- 
pearance, especially so from that part of it 
generally known as the "Beach," which is 
crescent-shaped and enveloped in a veritable 
labyrinth of cocoanut-trees, between whose 
multiceptered branches nestles the group of 
buildings occupied, principally, by the offi- 



24 PANAMA PICTURES. 

cials and employes of the "Parent Com- 
pany." Notably among these, is the Gen- 
eral Manager's residence, with its lofty cu- 
pola overlooking the broad and beautiful 
Caribbean. 

To the eastern end of the town are situa- 
ted the magnificent hospitals, which were 
built by the Commission for the care of 
their sick employes. From the same source, 
also, the indigent patients of Colon, enjoy 
the benefits of free medicines and the best of 
medical attention. 

The equipment and personnel of these 
hospitals, leave nothing to be desired, being 
fit to rank with any of those of the larger 
cities in the United States. In the equip- 
ment, one finds the most improved and mod- 
ern appliances in the personnel, the highest 
standard of talent and ability in doctors 
and nurses. 

But this is not, by any means, the one and 
only boon which the Americans have con- 
ferred upon Colon since their advent on the 
Isthmus. They have given us paved Streets, 
an ample Water Supply, with hydrants at 



NATURE AND LIFE. 25 

almost every corner, a Cold Storage Plant, 
which is replenished weekly with meats, 
frnit, and vegetables from the best markets 
in the United States ; a Steam Laundry and 
Bakery; an efficient Fire Brigade, capable 
of coping with any conflagration ; Free Pub- 
lic Schools in the Zone; a "Wireless Tele- 
graph" Station; a complete system of 
Drainage; and, last, though not least, im- 
proved Sanitary arrangements — a blessing 
hitherto unknown in the history of the Isth- 
mus. 

When all these things are reviewed in the 
minds of impartial critics, acquainted with 
the conditions of the town, as I remember 
them in the years gone by, they should, 
certainly'-, leave the impression that 
our evolution, from a series of mud-flats and 
salt marshes, has been most wonderful. At 
home, we see ourselves rising, rapidly, "on 
stepping stones from our dead selves to 
higher things," and fast approaching a stage 
when Colon, metaphorically speaking, will 
find herself dressed out in the full regalia 
of a modern city. 



26 PANAMA PICTURES, 

The present population of Colon is va- 
riously estimated; but I would not think of 
putting it down for anj^thing less than ten 
thousand souls, which figure, of course, will 
keep on increasing as work progresses on 
the Canal. 

Our seasons of the year are two : "The 
Dry" and "The Rainy" seasons; the one be- 
gins in the month of December, and the 
other in the early part of April. Yet some 
"kind friend," who tried to be facetious, 
once said that our two seasons were: "The 
Wet and the Rainy Seasons!" Colon, of 
course, is alwaj^s at her best during the 
"Dry Season;" for the sun is brightest then, 
and the northeast trade-winds are blowing a 
half o' gale ! And it is at this period of the 
year, too, that the sea puts on her robe of 
deepest sapphire, and the white spumescent 
surf comes rolling in upon the shore with a 
mad, glad thunder, whose music is all of its 
own! 

Colon is divided into three distinct sec- 
tions: first, there is the commercial part of 
the town, of which Front Street is the chief 



NATURE AND LIFE. 27 

thoroughfare; second, there is the ''Beach," 
which has already been described, and, 
third, tliere is Cristobal, where the offices of 
the Isthmian Canal Commission and the 
residences of its employes are pleasantly 
situated. This settlement, which was once 
a "Swampy Eden," minus a Mark Tapley 
and a young ChuzzleAvit, is now a beautiful 
little spot, laid out with picturesque wooden 
cottages, which are shaded by long rows of 
cocoanut trees. The principal thorough- 
fare in this direction, is "Palm Avenue," at 
the end of which are the two famous "De 
Lesseps' Palaces," which are now being used 
as offices : one by the Engineering and Con- 
structing Department, and the other by Mr. 
W. G. Tubby, the indefatigable Chief of the 
Division of Material and Supplies, through 
whose hands must pass the multiplicity of 
articles — from a pick to a steam-shovel — 
necessary for the construction of the great 
Isthmian Water-way ! 

Immediately opposite to these two pal- 
aces, which have latel^^ undergone extensive 
repairs and alterations, stands the imposing 



28 PANAMA PICTURES. 

bronze statue of Christopher Columbus like 
a sentinel guarding the Atlantic entrance of 
the Canal. 

Cristobal boasts of its own independent 
harbor, which, from being situated at the 
entrance of the Canal, and consequently in 
the Zone, is essentially American. It has 
two large docks — Nos. 11 and 14 — which 
are now in operation, and which have af- 
forded considerable relief to the docks in 
the Port of Colon, proper, which latter have 
been unable to cope with the increased de- 
mands of the shipping lately. The docks 
are provided with a Cantilever-Crane for 
the handling of ordinary cargoes, and a 
Brown-Hoist Coal Plant for the discharge 
of colliers. 

For the past year or so, Cristobal has 
been making rapid strides in the way of ex- 
pansion toAvards the district known as "Fox 
River," which she is so steadily absorbing 
that she now shows signs of finally converg- 
ing into Mount Hope, a village some two 
miles distant from Colon, and where an ex- 




Mr. W. G. Tubby, Chief of the Division of Material and 
Supplies. 





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NATURE AND LIFE. 29 

ten^dve Rail Road Yard has lately been con- 
structed. 

This happy condition of things has been 
the result of the constant and increasing de- 
mand for land-space required for extra Ca- 
nal and Rail Road facilities, made neces- 
sary in consequence of the vast progress in 
the work of the one, and the notable exten- 
sions and betterments, which the other is 
daily undergoing. And just here I must not 
forget to mention the new Train Yard which 
has been built at Pox River, the magnitude 
of which can be rapidly conceived when my 
readers are told that it takes in some twelve 
miles of steel track, and not less than eighty 
five switches ! Then, there are the new and 
commodious Machine Shops, Round Houses, 
Turn-Tables, Coal-Chute, all of which are 
now in satisfactory operation. In addition 
to these improvements, there is the old 
French Dry-Dock, at present in the course 
of reconstruction, and which, when com- 
pleted, will be capable of accommodating 
steamers of about three thousand tons reg- 
ister — all of Avhich has been the work of a 



30 PANAMA PICTURES. 

new and strenuous regime, and tlie outcome 
of the true Americanism which has been dis- 
played by Mr, Jno. F. Stevens, Chief Engi- 
neer of the Isthmian Canal Commission, 
and Mr. W. G. Bierd, General Manager of 
the Panama Rail Eoad Company — the two 
leading spirits, on the Isthmus, of Canal 
and Rail Road operations. 




Mr. Jno. F, Stevens, Chief Engineer of the I. C. C. 




Mr. W. G. Bierd, General Manager of the Panama Rail 
Road Company, 



MATURE AND LIFE. 31 



PART V. 

Between Cristobal and Panama, there 
are, altogether, some twenty-five stations, 
the most important ones among them being : 
Mount Hope, Gatun, Bohio, Frijoles, Gor- 
gona, Matachin, Bas Obispo, Empire, and 
Culebra, all of which are mentioned in the 
order of distances from Colon. 

Mount Hope. 

Mount Hope is where the Canal Commis- 
sion has an immense Warehouse, measuring 
488 feet long by 149 feet wide, which is a 
model of its kind, for the neat and tidy ar- 
rangement of the thousand and one differ- 
ent articles which are stored within its 
walls. It has a Fire Brigade of its own, 
which is composed of the Clerical Staff, 
whose alertness is oftentimes unexpectedly 
surprised by the sound of a false alarnr of 
fire, when every man rushes to his post im- 



32 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

mediately; some with hose and others with 
axes, in order to show how ready Avould be 
the response in the event of a real emer- 
gency. When President Eoosevelt paid a 
visit of inspection to this warehouse, he 
passed his approval of it in the following 
manner : 

"Well, I see, you've got a nice, big place 
here," he said, smiling broadly, as he walked 
away and boarded his palace car, "La 
France !" 

A short distance from this warehouse, is 
situated the Cemetery for the burial of the 
dead of Colon and of the neighboring dis- 
tricts. Then, a little way beyond the Pas- 
senger Depot, over the Hills, there is the 
Reservoir which supplies the Atlantic Ter- 
minus with water, and which, lately, has 
been the target for severe and unmerited 
criticism from abroad. 

The population of Mount Hope, formerly 
called Monkey HiU, is a mixed one, but it is 
principally composed of Jamaica negroes, 
with a small sprinkling of the Chinese ele- 
ment. In this little settlement of triple- 



NATURE AND LIFE. 33 

unique importance, some slight effort has 
been made, it seems, in the way of agricul- 
ture; for yams, plantains, cocoas, lemons, 
oranges and bananas are cultivated by the 
dwellers there and sent in to the nearest 
market for sale at exorbitant prices! Be- 
sides these, there is the luscious guava, 
which grows wild, and abundantly, in the 
quiet little Cemetery on the brow of the Hill, 
where the countless dead, of ages past, sleep 
their last, long sleep 'midst the songs of 
strange wild birds, and the lullabies of beau- 
tiful tropical palm-trees 

Gatun. 

Gatun is situated on the famous Chagres 
Eiver, which is one of the difficult problems 
in the building of the Canal. This river, 
which has its mad fits and passions, at 
times to the extent of inundating the Kail 
Eoad tracks and interrupting the traffic 
across the Isthmus occasionally, is some- 
thing like one hundred miles long, one hun- 
dred and fifty feet wide, with a depth, in 
some places, of twenty feet of water. It be- 



34 PANAMA PICTURES. 

gins at CeiTo de Pacora, or Tapia, Moun- 
tains, courses through Gatun, San Pablo, 
and Matachin, a distance of some thirty 
miles from Colon, and ends at historic San 
Lorenzo, on the Atlantic seaboard. The 
traffic on this river, which is very considera- 
ble, is conducted, chiefly, by means of Cayu- 
cos, or native dugouts, that carry the va- 
rious products from the different settle- 
ments along the route, to Colon, either for 
local consumption or for shipment abroad. 

Perhaps it is not generally known that 
Gatun, which is now the scene of great 
Canal activity, was the first Station of Rail 
Road operations. This was in November, 
1851, when a thousand immigrants were 
transported there on their way to California 
and Oregon. It is one of those stations 
that are still tenacious of their native color 
and individuality; but the Americans are 
rapidly rubbing these off the slate of Time 
with the preparatory work they are doing 
in connection with the building of the Dam 
which is to control the mighty waters of the 
Chagres River, on the other side of which, 



NATURE AND LIFE. 35 

looking from the Rail Road Station, is the 
old Native Settlement of Gatun, with its 
primitive thatched-cabins and its ancient 
wooden church, the shadow of whose tall, 
antiquated steeple with its sainted cross, re- 
flects, like a holy benediction, on the surface 
of the sometimes-peaceful waters of the 
river. This village is soon to be demol- 
ished, because it occupies a portion of the 
site of the great Dam, which is now in the 
course of construction. The dwellers of 
this place are a kind and hospitable people 
to foreigners that go among them, and to 
whom, on first acquaintance, they will 
pledge eternal friendships in a drink of 
Chicha, a native beverage, made of corn, 
rice, and barley, which is intoxicating only 
after long fermentation. Gatun is the most 
important banana district on the the line of 
the Rail Road. The fruit is loaded into box 
cars and conveyed to Colon for shipment to 
the United States. The banana business 
has been such a profitable one to the local 
exporters that, from time to time, it has in- 
vited the competition of foreign speculators, 



36 PANAMA PICTURES. 

who were temporarily lured into the mar- 
ket, until they had lost sufficient money in 
it to induce them, finally, to leave the field 
to those who had given the first impetus to 
the trade. The banana may be said to be 
the chief product exported from the Isth- 
mus. 

BOHIO. 

From a Canal standpoint, there is little 
to be said about this Station at the present 
writing. From a Rail Road sense, its his- 
tory dates as far back as the early days of 
construction, when its, seemingly, exhaust- 
less quarry furnished the necessary rock for 
the ballasting of the forty-seven miles of 
road-bed which stretches between Colon and 
Panama. It was from this same quarry, 
too, that the stones were hewn for the con- 
struction of that beautiful edifice, on the 
Beach, known as "Christ Church," which 
Avas most shamefully desecrated in the Pres- 
tan Year of 1885, when it was converted 
into a temporary prison for the incarcera- 
tion of the offenders of that ever-memorable 



NATURE AND LIFE. 37 

period! ximong the prisoners witliin the 
walls of this sacred building at the time, 
was an old Englishman, who had been a 
banker for years in Colon, and with whom 
, the poorer classes of the town were accus- 
tomed to lodge their hard-earned wages; 
weekly, and which, on March 30tli, 1885, 
when Colon was almost totally destroyed by 
fire, assumed the vast proportion of some- 
thing in the neighborhood of fifty thousand 
dollars, which the wily Englishman placed 
in an open boat, ready to abscond with it 
in a schooner that waited for him a little 
distance out in the Bay. But the fellow was 
foiled in the act that would have impover- 
ished so many ; for he was made to disgorge 
the contents of his treasure-laden Cayuco, 
upon the threat of marching him to the gal- 
lows to be hung forthwith. 

The present status of Bohio, as a Rail 
Eoad Station, must be measured by the ex- 
tent of its importance as a Commercial cen- 
tre, which I know, from experience, to be 
equal to that of any of the larger Stations 
along the line of the Rail Road. 



38 PANAMA PICTURES. 

From a personal and social point of view, 
however, I have, ever since I paid my first 
visit to Bohio, looked upon the place as my 
favorite picnic-ground, associated with 
pleasant memories of the hospitality of Don 
Porflrio Melendez, the present popular Gov- 
ernor of Colon, whose residence is situated 
there. 

I shall never forget the first day I spent in 
this house by special invitation. It was on 
a Sunday, and the place was crowded with 
visitors. As I walked in, accompanied by 
those who had come in on the same train 
with me, the Governor stepped up to me, 
took my hand in his, and, shaking it heart- 
ily, said in a tone of voice which rang out 
with a welcome for all : 

"Ola! mi amigo — You are just in time! 
Marcos is very sick — come inside, and see 
him before he dies !" But while he told me 
this with a smile upon his countenance, 
which I could not very well reconcile with 
the deep meaning of his speech, I noticed a 




"Christ Church," Colon. 



NATURE AND LIFE. 39 

puzzled, solemn look upon the faces of those 
who had just come in with me. I, toe, was 
disturbed ; for I saw before me the end of a 
picnic, not yet begun, and the picture of a 
funeral, for which none of us had bargained 
at all. Despite of our embarrassment, how- 
ever, Don Porfirio still smiled on, as he led, 
the way towards the back of the house, beck- 
oning to us to follow him. 

"Come this way," he said, "Cahalleros, I 
want to show you poor Marcos" ; and we all 
followed him, mechanically, until, to our 
great surprise, Ave found ourselves in the 
dining-room, where there was a large table, 
spread with an immaculate white cloth, 
upon which there stood a formidable look- 
ing Punch-bowl, with enough of the "Rosy" 
swirling in it as to drown the entire gather- 
ing. Our genial host stood at the head of 
the table, looking down triumphantly on the 
bowl ; flnall}^, he pointed to it, and, with the 
same persistent smile upon his countenance, 
said to the guests present : 

"Caballeros! — there is poor Marcos — he 
is dead; come on, now, we have to bury 



40 PANAMA PICTURES. 

liim !" at which a hearty laughter arose, and 
went the full round of the festive table — the 
glasses, too, till Marcos was, finally, buried, 
and resurrected, perhaps, by not a few that 
composed the happy gathering of that day ! 
From that time, and until the present 
date, I have always remembered the mean- 
ing attached to "Marcos" whenever I have 
been to spend a day in the Governor's hospi- 
table house, situated on the highest point in 
the district, and from which you look down 
on the far-stretching hills and valleys that 
surround the beautiful country of Bohio. 

Frijoles. 

At one time, this Station, save for supply- 
ing the passing locomotive with water, was, 
practically, ignored as a "Stopping Point" 
for passengers. But since the advent of the 
Americans, it has grown into importance, 
and donned the improved habiliments of the 
times. Only a few mornings ago, when our 
train stopped there, I could scarcely recog- 
nize the place for the great changes which 



STATURE AND LIFE. 41 

had come over it. A new Freight and Pas- 
senger Depot had been built to meet the in- 
creased demands of the traffic there; and a 
group of pretty little cottages, erected by 
the Canal Commission for the accommoda- 
tion of its employes, formed a picturesque 
background to this rejuvenated Station. 

To-day, the only building which serves as 
a landmark of the Frijoles of the past, is an 
old two-story, whitewashed house, which 
stands up proudly near the Kail Road track, 
and which, in the year 1881, was used as a 
laundry, where the "Boys" of Colon sent 
their clothing to be washed. 

Frijoles may be said to be the principal 
''Water Station" along the line of the Rail 
Road. As your train passes over the tres- 
tlework viaduct there, your attention is 
drawn, at once, to the swirling sound of 
water near by; and the first impulse that 
you feel, at the moment, is to put your head 
through the window of the car, and gaze 
around enquiringly, to locate the spot from 
which the babbling sound arose. 

Then, beneath you, into a deep ravine, on 



42 PANAMA PICTURES. 

the summit of which your train is passing, 
you see a clear-white, crystal stream, rush- 
ing madly down the incline of a moss-grown 
cemented terrace, until, with spumescent 
bubbles, it is caught into the boiling mael- 
strom of the deeper pool below, and carried 
away on the bosom of the stronger current. 
Here, the native women, with their skirts 
raised high up to their knees, and their scant 
upper, garments opened wide enough to 
make them anatomically^ expressive, wash 
their clothes, daily, then beat them on big, 
white rocks with a swish! — swish! — swish! 
that echoes throughout the jungle. 

• GORGONA. 

There has always been much to say, and 
much to Avrite, about this delightful spot 
along the line of the Rail Road; but now 
there is still more, on account of the better 
conditions which have prevailed since the 
Americans went that way and, so to speak, 
lifted the place from out the Pompeii of the 
Past, to that of its present status, enjoying 



:p 



NATURE AND LIFE. 43 

the improvements and conveniences of a 
modern city, hitherto unl^nown in the his- 
tory of this district. 

Gorgona is the favorite summer resort of 
the Panamanians, wlio go there, every year, 
to spend the Dry Season, in order to escape 
the dust of the Metropolis and the trying 
heat of the Verano months. 

Topographically, Gorgona stands upon 
the summit of two slight elevations, inter- 
sected by the Rail Road lines, which divide 
the Station into two distinct and separate 
sections — the one on the left, going towards 
Panama, being the original Native Settle- 
ment, where there is a road branching off to 
a steep, narrow pathway, upon each side of 
which the residences of the employes of the 
Isthmian Canal Commission are situated. 

Beyond this, after descending a tall flight 
of wooden stairs, you come to a trail, along 
the Rail Road tracks, which leads you to the 
immense Warehouses of the Material and 
Supply Department, and the I. C. C. Ma- 
chine Shops, Round Houses and Foundry, 
the equipment of all of which will vie with 



44 PANAMA PICTURES. 

anything of their kind in the United States 
of America. 

The Section to the right, going south, is 
exclusively "Canal." Here the cluster of 
houses, rising, gradually, on the hill, with 
the Music Stand, at the slope, forming a 
frontispiece to the whole, presents a charm- 
ing picture to the eye as you look across that 
way. These houses, which were built by the 
Commission, consist mainly of hotels, 
school-rooms, bachelors' and married quar- 
ters, clubs, reading-rooms and hospitals, all 
of them screened with wire-netting in order 
to keep out the dreaded mosquitoes, which 
are now almost exterminated. There is 
also the Commissariat of the Panama Rail 
Road Company which supplies its employes, 
and those of the Commission, with provi- 
sions, groceries, and other necessaries of life 
at cost prices, and a little over to cover the 
expense of freight and handling. 

At Gorgona, there is water installed in 
every house of the Commission ; and an am- 
ple supply is obtainable along the streets 
from the hydrants which have been placed 



9 



NATURE AND LIFE. 45 

at almost every corner, and from which the 
inhabitants, in general, help themselves 
bountifully. 

To-day, Gorgona pulses with the life and 
activity born of the upper district of Canal 
operations between Bas Obispo and Cule- 
bra; for not less than one hundred and 
twenty-five "Work Trains" pass there daily, 
with their loads of rock and dirt, which are 
taken to Mamei and Tabernilla, two of the 
Stations lower down, to fill in marsh-lands, 
and to widen the ways for the double- track- 
ing of the Panama Kail Eoad, the work of 
which is now in a fairly advanced condition. 

As the various trains dashed by me, I be- 
thought myself of the object-lesson they af- 
forded to one who was not a builder of the 
World, and I realized, at once, in this enor- 
mous traffic of common dirt and rock, the 
full text and meaning of the glorious work 
which the Americans were doing on the 
Isthmus. 

Socially, Gorgona is not, by any means, 
behind the times in the programme of 
amusements characteristic of the other Sta- 



46 PANAAIA PICTURES. 

tions along the line of the Zone to-day : It 
has its bachelor parties, which are given in 
return for the entertainments tendered by 
the married folks of that pleasant district; 
its Masonic sociables; its Saturday evening 
dances, and its gossipy teas, the latter in- 
tended for the sole benefit and delectation 
of the fair sex, because of the opportunities 
they offer for talking among themselves, and 
to a gilt-edged finish, the private business of 
their neighbors, 

I have used the term "gossipy" advisedly ; 
for teas, as a rule, are bound to be so when 
they are exclusively composed of ladies, 
caparisoned in tall-feathered hats, sitting 
around a table, leisurely sipping their tea 
the while they criticise the dresses which 
Mrs. So and So had worn at the club-dance 
the evening before, until all hands would 
exclaim, by way of a unanimous verdict : 
"Oh ! — didn't they look just horrible !" 
Then, they would switch off, perhaps, to 
a lengthy discussion upon the subject of an 
imaginary purchase of some five hundred 
dollars worth of embroidered tkirts and 



NATURE AND LIFE. 47 

blouses, which Mrs. So, they "heard," had 
made of an itinerant East Indian trader, 
who was passing through Colon; at which 
piece of hear-say information the barometer 
of the "tea" would rise to its highest pitch 
of curiosity and excitement, culminating in 
everybody asking, with a jealous ring in 
each voice : 

"Oh, how can Mrs. 'So' afford to do such 
extravagant things on the small salary 
which her husband is getting?" — a question 
that would vex and tax the speculative in- 
genuity of any feminine gathering ! 

If I were asked to give my opinion of tea- 
parties, in general, I would not, for a mo- 
ment, hesitate in saying, that they struck me 
as being the Parliaments for women to dis- 
cuss the affairs of other people in, and to ex- 
patiate upon them, even to the extent of 
marring the domestic happiness of others. 

But these remarks, which are altogether 
impersonal, are neither here nor there to the 
social amenities of Gorgona, that tend, no 
doubt, to bridge the time between Labor and 



48 PANAMA PICTURES. 

Vacation for the Bojs whose sweethearts 
are over the boundless waters. 



Matachin. 

Matachin still retains the same old sem- 
blance as it did in the days of the French 
regime; the only perceptible difference be- 
ing the presence of "Old Glory," flying 
above the Zone Police Station, to indicate 
the memorable transition from November 
the 3rd, 1903, to the present time of writing. 

Matachin is not a very euphonious nomen- 
clature, but the blood-thrilling incident, 
from which it took its origin, somewhere 
about the 3^ear 1852, the period of Rail Road 
Construction, would make a weird and grue- 
some page in the history of the Panama 
Isthmus, whenever the time shall come for 
it to be written. The story, according to the 
telling of the best-informed "Old Timers," 
runs this way : 

It appears that a number of Chinamen, 
who were employed as track laborers in that 
section of the country, committed suicide, 



O 



NATURE AND LIFE. 49 

daily, by hanging themselves until the en- 
tire Chinese colony was, finally, extermi- 
nated. It is said that it was a most grotesque 
sight to see, each morning, seven or eight 
of these Celestials hanging, by their necks, 
to the trees of the forest or, perhaps, to some 
post or other in the neighborhood; their 
lifeless forms stiffened out to a tension; 
their tongues protruding from their mouths 
— their eyes wide open and looking at you 
with a fixed, glassy stare through which the 
silver rays of the early morning sun re- 
flected hideously! 

The reason given for this self-executed 
carnage is, that the Chinamen, being far 
Siwaj from the Fatherland, had become 
homesick; and so, under the mad delirium 
of nostalgia, resorted to death as the best 
way out of their miseries — trusting, as they 
did, no doubt, to their unshaken belief in the 
beautiful doctrine of Confucius, which had 
promised them, as they had read it in their 
childhood days, to be taken up to heaven 
by means of their plaited queues. 

Literally translated, from the Spanish to 



50 PANAMA PICTURES. 

English, the word "Matachin" signifies 
"Kill Chinaman" — hence the name by which 
the natives christened it in the days of the 
early history of the Road; the name by 
which it will ever be known. 

Matachin has not yet felt the vigorous 
touch of Canal activity which characterizes 
some of the other Stations along the line of 
the Zone to-day ; but the time is now rapidly 
approaching when she will take her place in 
the march of the World's great work, which 
is hers by right of situation, because of her 
being the genesis of the heaviest excavations 
which are yet to be done from that point to 
Pedro Miguel, a distance of some twelve 
miles. 

In former years, Matachin was the meet- 
ing Station for all trains of the Panama 
Rail Road Company, to the passenger trains 
of which the natives of the village would go 
out with their baskets loaded down with 
bananas, oranges, milk and hoyo (the last 
named article being a preparation of corn 
and rice, wrapped in leaf), which they 
would offer for sale to the hungry passen- 



NATURE AND LIFE. 51 

gers who, in those days were subject to a 
tiresome five-hour time-table for a short run 
of forty-seven miles between the two ter- 
mini. 

But, in the mad expectancy of the Na- 
tives in the near-future Canal operations in 
this district, those familiar scenes are rele- 
gated to the Past now ; for, to-day, you look 
through the window of the car and listen, in 
vain, for the cries of "Gineos!" — "Naran- 
jas!" — "Leche!" — "Boyo!" which you were 
wont to hear in former years, as the train 
hauled up to the Station. Even the Flower- 
Girl, in PoUera-Costume, is missing also — 
to say nothing of the absence of dear 
"Mother" Brown, who used to sharpen the 
appetites of the Old Kail Road Boys with 
her delightful cocktails, her Jamaica and 
Scotch and Rye, for the bountiful meals 
which she would serve them with whenever 
they had occasion to stop over at Matachin. 
Yes! all these little incidents and living 
landmarks, which go to make up history, 
have disappeared from the scenes, entirely; 



52 PANAMA PICTURES. 

but an abiding memory is tenacious of them 
all. 

Bas Obispo. 

The importance of Bas Obispo, on ac- 
count of the "Cut," which the French 
called "La Corosita," after the name of a 
prickly palm-tree, which grew abundantly 
upon a mountain in that district, is not, by 
any means, to be underestimated, since it 
involves a large share of the work in con- 
nection with the glorious and gigantic task 
of uniting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans 
— It is, so to speak, the Junior-Culebra ; 
and who knows but what it will give as 
much trouble as its senior-brother, situated 
some five miles and a half away, reckoning 
from north to south? 

Here, the houses, for the most part, are 
those which were left by the French Com- 
pany, but which have since been repaired 
and painted by the Isthmian Canal Com- 
mission, and put into such good shape as to 
render them all as comfortable as the new 
buildings lately erected at the other Sta- 



NATURE AND LIFE. 53 

tions along the line of the Zone. In their 
"Coats" of slate-color paint, and immacu- 
late-white "Cuttings," which glisten be- 
neath the rays of the early morning sun, 
these remnants of past French days laugh 
at Old Father Time, and cheat him out of 
the traces of the years which, on his on- 
ward journey, his relentless hand had 
stamped upon them! 

From the standpoint of an American 
Canal, Bas Obispo marks the first page in 
the history of the advent of the present ad- 
ministration on the Isthmus; for it was 
here that "Camp Elliott," the Head Quar- 
ters of the American Marines, situated on 
a high promontor}^, from which you look 
down upon a vast and beautiful country of 
low-lying hills and far-stretching valleys, 
clothed in perennial verdure, was first 
established for the purpose of accommoda- 
ting some four hundred and fifty men that 
had arrived in Colon by the transport 
"Dixie," on that ever memorable night of 
November the 5th, 1903. Here, the "Boys" 
in khaki pitched their tents and mounted, 



54 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

their guns cheerfully, in readiness for the 
emergency of war, which was rumored all 
around as being imminent with the out- 
witted Colombians, and their vaunted 
allies, the San Bias Indians, whose com- 
bined strength was computed at something 
like forty-five thousand men in all. But as 
the days wore on, and no sign of the enemy 
appearing, there was less occasion to be 
Avary, and so the "Boys" had lots of time on 
hand, which they dedicated to the innocent 
amusement of composing doggerel-rhymes, 
that were, finally, set to music and sung by 
them in every house they visited. 

In chronicling the incident of the 
"Dixie," with which a new era for Panama 
began, I recall to mind another, and yet 
more serious, one in connection with the 
political happenings of that troublous and 
agitated period, which is bound to make an 
interesting chapter in the history of the 
Republic of Panama. 

I refer to the four hundred and seventy- 
five Colombian Officers and Soldiers, who 
had threatened the Town of Colon that day. 



W *", 




NATURE AND LIFE. 55 

November the 5th, 1903, against a handful 
of men from the United States Gun Boat 
''Nashville," whose number was afterwards 
augmented by some forty raw recruits, col- 
lected here and there in a hurry — men who 
had never held a gun in their lives before — 
men whose maiden-hands trembled ner- 
vously as they shouldered their first rifle! 

Happily, however, the necessity to open 
up hostilities never arose that day, which 
had been to each and all of us one of the 
type of a veritable Waterloo; excepting, of 
course, "The voluptuous swell of music;" 
"The dance and the joy unconfined;" but 
not the "Hurrying to and fro;" nor the 
"Mounting in hot haste" of the people into 
coaches; for everywhere you turned, there 
were men, women, and affrighted children — 
the women half dressed, and their hair di- 
sheveled — dashing madly, down the streets 
in search of places of refuge, which some 
found on board the steamers in the harbor 
at the tjme, while others, less fortunate, 
were compelled to hide themselves behind 
large bales of cotton that were piled up in 



56 PANAMA PICTURES. 

the Freight house of the Panama Rail Road 
Company, and which" served as a barricade 
against a possible attack from the enemy 
outside. But, despite of all these necessary 
precautions, not a single shot was fired; 
for eight thousand dollars American gold, 
and enough champagne to drown the feel- 
ings of an inglorious defeat, had done the 
deed, and carried away the laurels of that 
anxious day, on the night of which, syn- 
chronously with the arrival of the "Dixie," 
theTRoyal Mail steamer "Orinoco," bound 
for Cartagena with the Army oil board that 
had menaced Colon, moved out of her pier, 
the while ten thousand sighs of relief went 
up from the hearts of those who had begun 
to return to their respective homes, after 
three days and nights of discomfort and 
anxiety; deprivations and sickness; then — 
Presto I — The Republic of Panama. 

Empire. 

If there is any Station along the line of 
the Zone, that has caught the full spirit of 



NATURE AND LIFE. 57 

Canal operations; that has felt the thrill of 
the gigantic work which is going on all 
around it, that Station is, surely. Empire, 
otherwise called "Camacho," which being 
only one mile and a half distant from the 
Culebra Divide, is rendered a very impor- 
tant Section of the great Interoceanic 
Water-way. 

As the train hauls up to the Passenger 
Depot, this fact is evidenced immediately 
by the busy hum of things about the place — 
by the clink-clank-clink of the chains of the 
monster steam-shovels, the echoes of count- 
less hammers resounding through the air, 
the tooting of whistles in all directions, and 
by the distant boom of heavy charges of 
dynamite, all of which are unmistakable in- 
dications that life is a strenuous one in this 
particular part of the country. Here, 
there are extensive Warehouses and well- 
equipped Machine- Shops, in addition to 
which there is at present in the course of 
construction, an Electric Light Plant, 
which is calculated to light up Culebra 
Station as well. 



58 PANAMA PICTURES. 

The old Native Empire Settlement, sit- 
uated a little distance down the tracks, 
looking towards the north, which for four 
decades had been the stopping-point of the 
trains running between both termini, is 
relegated to the dead Past now, the new 
Empire, having taken its place as the 
Freight and Passenger Station in that Dis- 
trict, which comprises '^Camacho/' dinette, 
White House, and the Native and American 
Empires. 

The American Empire, which is one of 
the largest towns along the line of the Rail 
Eoad, is a most beautiful spot, nestling be- 
tween a group of low-lying hills, upon 
whose gradual-heights the residences of the 
employes of the Isthmian Canal Commis- 
sion are situated. In addition " to these, 
there are the Hospital, Hotel, Public Free 
School and Commissariat buildings which, 
being of the more pretentious type of struc- 
tures, rise up dwarfing the smaller houses 
that go to make up a picturesque cluster of 
the whole in spotless white and slate-color 



NATURE AND LIFE. 59 

paints, that now distinguish the properties 
of the Isthmian Canal Commission. 

As a place of residence, Empire, even to 
the most fastidious tastes, should leave noth- 
ing at all to be desired. Situated, as it is, 
upon a high elevation, and having an ample 
supply of good drinking water and com- 
plete modern sanitary arrangements, there 
is no reason why it should not be as healthy 
a spot as can be found in any other part of 
Christendom. And this is so true of Em- 
pire that the Accounting and Disbursing 
Departments of the Isthmian Canal Com- 
mission, whose oflflces were formerly located 
in Panama, were lately transferred there, 
along with their respective staffs, number- 
ing about one hundred men, most of them 
being Americans. 

With regard to domestic life for the mar- 
ried folks at Empire, this has been rendered 
comparatively easy and inexpensive since 
the inauguration of the Refrigerating-Car 
Service, by which system the employes of 
the Commission and the Panama Rail Road 
Company at every Station along the line, 



60 PANAMA PICTURES. 

enjoy the incalculable boon of being furn- 
ished, daily, with fresh meats, fruits and 
vegetables of all descriptions, eggs, cow's 
milk and ice, all of which, excepting the lat- 
ter article, manufactured in Colon, are 
brought over to the Isthmus from the best 
markets of the United States of America. 
And yet, despite of these immense advan- 
tages, hitherto unknown in this part of the 
world, there are lots who are not satisfied, 
and kick about prices which, however, when 
compared with those charged by the local 
merchants for inferior articles of consump- 
tion, whose assortment is not, by any 
means, varied, the balance in the scale of 
comparison will, invariably, result in favor 
of the imported commodities. But then, I 
suppose there must be "kickers" in every 
sphere and clime, the Isthmus not ex- 
cluded; for it boasts of many who can well 
be termed Born-kickers — free, easy and ex- 
temporaneous Kickers, who will kick, even 
though there is nothing absolutely to kick 
about, until their last day upon this side of 
Eternity. 



NATURE AND LIFE. 61 

CULEBRA. 

Culebra! Who has not heard of Culebra? 
Since the month of January, 1880, when the 
French began operations, Culebra has been 
on the tongues of men, the world over, as a 
thing unachievable — as an engineering im- 
possibility ! 

The French, however, who had prepared 
their plans well, and had studied them out 
carefully, paid no attention, whatever, to 
this expression of opinion, which they 
knew, as an absolute fact, had emanated 
from those who were friends of Nicaragua, 
and, consequently, sworn and open enemies 
of the favored Panama route, but pro- 
ceeded, at once, with the tremendous task of 
demolishing the Culebra Mountain, in the 
performance of which they proved to the 
world, at large, the feasibility of their 
scheme, and did good work until 1888, 
when, as many of us have good reasons to 
remember, operations were, suddenly, sus- 
pended. 

Then came an idle lapse of some fifteen 



62 PANAMA PICTURES. 

long years of weary, patient waiting — fif- 
teen years of great suspense and anxiety — 
lioping, each day, that something would 
turn up to save the increasing gravity of the 
situation which, from a financial and com- 
mercial standpoint, had just begun to 
threaten the whole Isthmus with ruin, when 
the Americans came to the rescue, and thus 
averted the crisis that seemed inevitable. 

Let us admit that there have been serious 
engineering difficulties to contend with at 
Culebra; but, on the other hand, let us ad- 
mit, also, that there have been men at the 
helm of affairs, in this district, endowed 
with the necessary skill and ability to cope 
with those difficulties which, to-day, are, 
happily, surmounted through the indomita- 
ble will of those who have identified them- 
selves with the great Culebra problem. 

That the judgment, therefore, pro- 
nounced by the enemies of Panama, with 
regard to the impracticability of Culebra, 
was, altogether, without foundation, the 
work done by the French, in their day, and 
the progress made by the Americans, since 



NATURE AND LIFE. 63 

1903 up to the present time of writing, in 
themselves, alone, are ample proof and testi- 
mony. 

But the simple telling of it, on my part, 
could never convey to the mind of the read- 
er, the full extent of what has, really, been 
accomplished at this important Section of 
the Canal. The magnitude of it all must 
first be seen before it can be intelligently 
appreciated, even by those who saw Cule- 
bra in her virgin integrity, in her pristine 
glory, compared to what she is, to-day, — a 
wreck of her former magnificence! 

The Americans have done good work at 
Culebra; and what of course, has con- 
tributed largely to this has been the use of 
up-to-date machinery, such as the steam- 
shovel, for instance, which is the backbone 
and sinew of the work of building the Canal 
across the Panama Isthmus. Culebra, be- 
sides being the objective point to-day, is the 
keynote of the whole gigantic undertaking, 
and the dream of Mr. John F. Stevens, the 
Chief Engineer, who is interested, heart 
and soul, in the final demolition of the Cule- 



64 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

bra Mountain down to a point below the 
level of the sea ! 

Culebra, of course, is the busiest Section 
of all. In the "Cut," blasting goes on 
almost continually; and some heavy 
"charges" have been set off lately. The 
heaviest of these was the one which con- 
tained six thousand pounds of dynamite 
and twenty-five tons of black powder, which 
scattered fifty thousand cubic yards of rock 
and dirt in one great heap ! 

The day I paid a visit to this Section of 
the Works, everything that wore wheels, 
appeared to me to have been in motion, each 
one vieing with the other in the race for the 
goal of the World's great work : There were 
"dump-trains" moving, one after the other, 
in rapid succession, along the banks of the 
"Cut" ; engines puffed away and snorted 
busily ; and, last, though not the least, a 
fleet of steam-shovels in operation, all of 
them telling, in their own see-saw vernacu- 
lar, of the glorious thing they were doing 
for the benefit of the nations of the World ! 
The graceful motion of their sharp-teethed 



NATURE AND LIFE. 65 

dippers, as they swung, to and fro, around 
their tireless cliains, stopping mid-way to 
plunge deep down into the bosom of Mother 
Earth for their prey of rock and dirt, which 
they picked up greedily and finally dis- 
gorged into old French "dumps'' or W. W. 
Scraper Cars, with a loud burst of white- 
steam-laughter that curled up into the air 
and resounded through the "Cut'' trium- 
phantly, impressed me with the idea that 
these monster things, but mere parts of ma- 
chinery assembled together as a unit, were 
almost as sentient as human beings them- 
selves. 

On the occasion of President Roosevelt's 
late visit to the Isthmus, and which, by the 
way, has immortalized Panama and the 
Panama Canal, he related to a large and 
representative audience, at a reception 
given in his honor at Cristobal, on the night 
of November the 17th, that, in the course of 
his examination of the Works, he had 
stopped at Culebra, where he had seen over 
one of the steam-shovels in operation, a ban- 
ner which bore the legend: 



66 PANAMA PICTURES. 

"WE WILL HELP YOU TO CUT IT I" 

Then, as his special train moved further 
on the way, he said, a fellow hailed out to 
him: 

"WE'RE GOING TO PUT IT 
THROUGH I" 

Both of which, the President explained 
to us, had pleased him immensely, because, 
he remarked, he admired the spirit that 
actuated the sentiment of the two. 

Culebra is the highest point, and the 
largest Station, along the line of the Rail 
Road. The American settlement of this 
important district is reached by a continu- 
ous winding pathway, that leads up to the 
Administration and other buildings, situ- 
ated upon the summit of the hill, from 
which point you get a most wonderful bird's 
eje view of the surrounding country and 
the "Cut," both of which teem with the life 
and activity commensurate with the im- 
rdensity of the Cause. 

Culebra being the headquarters of the 
Chief Engineer, and also his seat of resi- 
dence, is rendered, officially and socially. 



MATURE AND LIFE. 67 

the most important Station on the Zone — 
the pillar of the one part being well sup- 
ported by the gentleman of the hour; while 
the amenities of the other are ably executed 
by his amiable Ladj^ who, by her charming 
manners, has succeeded in making herself 
the most popular figure among the best so- 
cial circles on the Isthmus. 

At Culebra, the Panama Rail Eoad 
branches off to a comparatively new line, 
called "The Deviation," built by the French, 
and inaugurated on the 3rd day of March, 
1901, and which opened up the loveliest bit 
of country and scenery to be found in any 
part of South or Central America. 

"The Deviation" is five miles long; and 
about one mile and a half from where it be- 
gins, there is an Iron Bridge, one hundred 
and twenty-five feet long, spanning the "Rio 
Grande," which was dammed into a lake in 
order to divert the course of the waters of 
the rivers from the Canal Works at Cule- 
bra. 

The lake is beautiful! In its silent, glassy 
depths are mirrored, inverted, the stately 



68 PANAMA PICTURES. 

mountain-peaks, green with the growth of 
ages past; and tall and graceful-bending 
bamboos fringe the edges of its uncomplain- 
ing waters. 



NATURE AND LIFE. 69 



PART VI. 

The present City of Panama, which was 
founded in the j^ear 1519, is situated about 
five miles and a half Avest of the original 
city, known, to-day, as "Old Panama," 
which was captured by Buccaneer Morgan 
and his handful of daring adventurers on 
the 28th of January, 1671, and immediately 
afterwards reduced to ashes, because it was 
discovered by Morgan that he had been clev- 
erly outwitted by the Panamanians who, 
anticipating the attack on the city, had 
placed on board of a vessel lying in the har- 
bor, all the gold and silver ornaments of the 
convents and the churches, the King's silver 
and jewels, as well as all the other valua- 
bles belonging to private individuals. For, 
at the time written of. Old Panama was the 
distributing centre of the rich countries of 
the South, such as Chili and Peru, for the 
immense cargoes of treasure, which were 



70 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

constantly arriving for the King of Spain, 
who ^Yas Charles the Second, and which 
were transported on mule-back to Porto 
Bello, a small harbor on the Atlantic sea- 
board, where the Spanish fleet awaited the 
precious merchandise for conveyance to its 
final destination. 

Panama is not a city of any architectural 
pretensions, but it boasts of a few fine 
buildings, which might, possibly, pass mus- 
ter before the scrutiny of experienced ejes 
that have seen better in other countries. 
Foremost among these buildings are : the 
Bishop's Palace, the Grand Central Hotel, 
and the General Offices of the Isthmian 
Canal Commission, to all of which there 
will soon be added the new Theatre that is 
now in the course of construction. In 
addition to these, there is the new and mag- 
nificent I. C. C. "Tivoli Hotel," situated 
upon a high promontory at the entrance of 
Panama, and which has the distinguished 
honor of having accommodated President 
Eoosevelt and his party during their short 
stay on the Isthmus. 



NATURE AND LIFE. Tl 

As in all other Spanish-American coun- 
tries, the majority of the houses in Panama 
are massive stone structures built in the 
days of Spanish domination; but the build- 
ings which are now going up, betray 
marked signs of the more modern school of 
architecture. 

The principal public thoroughfares and 
places of interest, are two Parks: one in the 
Plaza Santana, and the other in the Cathe- 
dral Square. Then, there is the Bovedas, 
or Sea-wall, a powerful fortification which 
overlooks the beautiful Pacific Ocean and 
the distant Islands in the harbor. At each 
of these three resorts, the National Band, 
consisting of some thirty pieces, delights 
the ears of the lovers of music with a con- 
cert weekly. 

Since the advent of the Americans on the 
Isthmus, Panama has undergone some re- 
markable improvements. The streets, that 
were once of cobblestones, difflcult and un- 
comfortable to walk upon, are now, almost 
all of them, paved with bricks imported 
from the United States for the purpose. 



^^ 



72 PANAMA PICTURES. 

The Aguadores, that formerly went about 
the city on their two-wheeled barrel-carts, 
selling water to the inhabitants, by the 
bucket, the only means of supply in those 
days, have now been superseded by the in- 
stallation of an up-to-date system of Water- 
Works, which, so far, has been one of the 
greatest boons conferred on the city, for the 
reason that it has afforded the means of 
proper sewerage and good sanitary ar- 
rangements, that have contributed so 
largely to improve the health conditions of 
Panama. 

At Ancon, on the outskirts of the city, 
and within the boundaries of the Zone, 
the magnificent hospitals of the Commis- 
sion are situated 'midst the luxuriant 
growth of palms and cocoanut-trees, which 
are fanned by the soft, refreshing breezes of 
the Pacific. 

The population of Panama is variously 
estimated, but, in the absence of an official 
census, I do not think I will be far wrong in 
setting the figures down to 35,000 souls, al- 



NATURE AND LIFE. 73 

most every one speaking the English lan- 
guage iairly. 

The Panamanians are a kind and intelli- 
gent lot of people — hospitable to strangers 
alwaj^s; and no one is better able to testify 
to these facts than I am, having resided 
on the Isthmus, and been associated with 
the sons of Panama, for a checkered period 
that covers some thirty-three years and 
over. 

In Panama, as they are in almost every 
other small city of the world, the pleasures 
of social life are somewhat "slow" and lim- 
ited. Occasionally, however, there is a 
break in the dull round and monotony of 
things, either by a dance at the "Interna- 
tional," or by some musical entertainment 
at the "Commercial," the two most promi- 
nent clubs in the City. Then, on Sundays, 
or on any other day of leisure in the week, 
there is the pleasure, for those who are fond 
of outdoor sports, of mounting a good, swift 
steed and riding far out to the sunny forest, 
and to the beautiful Savannas of Panama. 



74 PANAMA PICTURES. 



PART VII. 

About two miles distant from Panama, is 
the seaport on the American Zone, known 
as La Boca, whicli is situated at tlie mouth 
of the Rio Grande, the Pacific entrance of 
the Canal. 

Besides being a busy Canal centre, La 
Boca is an important Shipping-district, and 
an enormous Rail Road Yard and Termi- 
nus, where all freights, coming from and 
destined to the ports of the Pacific, pass 
through on their way to their final destina- 
tions. 

La Boca is provided with improved and 
ample shipping facilities. There are two 
extensive piers there in constant opisration; 
one built in the days of the French, and the 
other by the present regime for the accom- 
modations of the increased Commercial, 
Rail Road and Canal traffic across the Pan- 
ama Isthmus. 



NATURE AND LIFE. 75 

Both piers, to-day, are, more or less, tem- 
porary compromises for tlie Canal, on ac- 
count of the advantage they offer to the 
steamers, of loading and discharging their 
cargoes direct from, and to, the cars of the 
Panama Rail Road Company, instead of 
-having to do so in the stream, by means of 
lighters, as was the custom formerly, and 
which necessitated extra shifting and hand- 
ling that incurred additional mutilation of 
cargoes. 

The first steamer to dock at La Boca, was 
the United States Ship "Ranger," which 
was ordered there by the Administration at 
Washington, for the purpose of taking 
soundings of the Basin and the Channel 
leading up to the pier, which was built by 
the French Company; with the result that 
the "Ranger" was quickly followed by the 
Pacific Mail Steamer "Costa Rica," which 
inaugurated the new service that is now in 
full and successful operation at La Boca, 
one of the busiest harbors on the Pacific 
Coast. 

The day I went there on a visit, the two 



76 PANAMA PICTURES. 

piers were full of life and activity, and yer. 
itable pandemoniums of Labor ; for, in their 
mad haste and eager endeavor for suprem- 
acy in the art of truck-wheeling, good-nat- 
ured truck-men jostled against each other 
frequently, while the powerful trolley-trans- 
porters swung their heavy sling-loads 
around with a pendulum-like regularity, 
and a whir! — whir! — whir! and then de- 
posited their burdens on the piers. 

At La Boca there are extensive Machine- 
shops, operated by the Commission, where 
the repairs for all the Floating Canal Equip- 
ment, such as tugs, clappets and dredges, are 
effected daily. In addition to which there 
are, of course, the usual buildings for the ac- 
commodation of the emplo3^es of the Com- 
mission and the Panama Rail Road Com- 
pany; hospitals for the sick, and hotels and 
mess-rooms for the satisfaction of the inner 
man. 

No one should come to the Isthmus with- 
out paying a visit to La Boca, the Gateway 
of the Canal on the Pacific, the betrothed of 
the Atlantic Ocean. 



NATURE AND LIFE. 77 



PAKT VIII. 

The work of building the great Water-way 
across the favored Panama route, has served 
as a most powerful magnet in the way of at- 
tracting all sorts and conditions of people to 
the Isthmus from almost every quarter of 
the Globe; for a more cosmopolitan collec- 
tion of the human races than that we have 
among us to-day, does not, I believe, exist in 
any other part of the universe: There are 
Americans, British, French, Germans, Ital- 
ians, Spaniards, Greeks, Colombians, Dan- 
ish, Peruvians, Central Americans, East In- 
dians, and, of course, an abundance of the 
ever ubiquitous Chinese, who have all 
tended, largely, to change our local color 
and the aspect of our surroundings and en- 
vironments. Many, even, of our old histori- 
cal land-marks have disappeared from these 
scenes entirely, in order to make room for 
Canal operations; and, to judge from the 



78 PANAMA PICTURES; 

present outlook of things, the time is not far 
distant when the few remaining ones shall 
have completely vanished and have been suc- 
ceeded by the greatest Work that man has 
ever yet conceived or attempted. 

The labor chiefly employed to work on the 
Canal is made up of a somewhat motley 
gathering of Jamaicans, Barbadians, Mar- 
tiniquenians, St. Lucians, Spaniards, Ital- 
ians and Cartegenians, with a possibility of 
an augmentation of these classes by the in- 
troduction, later on, of the progressive Jap- 
anese. Yet, strange to say, and also won- 
derful to contemplate, that, notwithstand- 
ing this mixed assembly of peoples, all work- 
ing side by side together, in the name of the 
one great Cause, there has been so little, if 
any at all, of crime on the Isthmus of Pan- 
ama ; but this, no doubt, is due, firstly, to the 
combined Police regulations of the Panama 
and the United States Governments in the 
strict maintenance of peace and order, and, 
secondly, to the law-abiding natures of the 
aliens. And yet, for my part, I do not be- 
lieve in such a cosmic gathering; it is dan- 



NATURE AND LIFE. 79 

gerous, because it sometimes leads to dis- 
turbances between the different races of 
men, whose respective tastes and languages, 
characteristics and temperaments, are so 
widely apart from each other. The French 
brought the Africans to the Isthmus, and 
they made no end of trouble for us, even to 
the last day, when eight hundred of them 
marched in to Colon, from Culebra, and, 
with razors and knives, defied the, then, Co- 
lombian policemen just at the entrance of 
Cristobal ! 

The Spaniards, it has been said, are very 
good workmen, and I think, myself, they are 
too ; and the Japanese have been mentioned 
as a probable solution of the labor problem ; 
but it is my forcible and candid opinion, 
based upon many long years' experience in 
this country, that the Jamaica Negro is the 
fellow to dig the Canal : he is accustomed to 
the climate, and can better adapt himself to 
the prevailing conditions on the Isthmus 
than any of the men of the other nationali- 
ties I have just mentioned here. 

And now for a few words more before 



80 PANAMA PICTURES. 

closing this paper. I trust it will not be 
thought by any of my readers, that I have 
posed in these pages either as the self-consti- 
tuted "Trumpeter" of Panama, or as the 
mouth-piece of the Panamanians. I have 
simply wished to fulfil the duty, which I 
have long felt was mine, as an old resident 
of the Isthmus, of endeavoring, in my own 
little humble way, to convince the preju- 
diced minds that, after all, we are not such a 
"heap, bad lot from away back," as many of 
our unfriendly and aided critics, abroad, 
have magazined and newspapered us to be. 

As a lover of the Truth, I must frankly 
admit that we have not yet reached that 
stage of perfection, which is beyond re- 
proach and unfavorable criticism, towards 
the happy goal to which we are trending 
daily ; for there are still a fcAV flaws that yet 
need mending. On the other hand, however, 
it should also be conceded that the Republic 
of Panama, ias an Independent Nation, and 
as the Ruler of her own destinies, is, so to 
speak, in the infancy of years: The rough 
edges found here and there in her Ashler to- 



NATURE AND LIFE. 81 

day, will be worn away as Time rolls onward 
to the Future! 

As for our Critics, let me say that, taking 
them on the whole, they have been a most 
wonderfully gifted assortment of people in 
their utter lack of knowledge of the Isth- 
mus, its past and present conditions, its 
topography and its environment of to-day. 

For a stranger to sit in a Rail Road car, 
whirled away at an average speed of some- 
thing like twenty-five miles an hour, and 
think, by just gazing, cursorily, through the 
window, that, he, or she, could write a faith- 
ful report of a country so rapidly traversed, 
is, to my mind, as ridiculous as it is impossi- 
ble ! Yet much to the chagrin of the Pana- 
manians, and to the disgust of the many 
friends of the Isthmus, has this marvelous 
feat been attempted. 

The Isthmus of Panama is exactly what 
we make it, by our mode of living, our con- 
duct, and our habits generally. If men will 
come here and turn night into day, commit- 
ting indiscretions in over-drink and all 
other kinds of imprudence, as they have. 



82 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

oftentimes, done, the result, as it would be 
in any other part of the world, must be pat- 
ent and obvious. Yet almost every case of 
sickness and death that has occurred here 
from time to time, has, invariably, been 
chalked down, in great, big letters, against 
the climate of the Isthmus, whose health 
conditions, notwithstanding, will compare 
most favorably with those of any other coun- 
try in the Tropics, and, perhaps, with those 
of some places in the North also — a state- 
ment that may seem chimerical to some, but 
all the same the Truth, for which I have, as 
testimony, the official figures of our limited 
mortality, the percentage of which is far be- 
low that of any of the larger cities in the 
world. 

Whatever may be said to the contrary, the 
Isthmus, within the past two years or more, 
has made wonderful progress in the way of 
general improvements. 

Socially, we have had some very valuable 
acquisitions with the constant influx of peo- 
ple from abroad ; and yet, I am compelled to 
confess. Society on the Isthmus is a verita- 



NATURE AND LIFE. 83 

ble Study— not in "Scarlet," but in every 
color of the rainbow ! For the dominant feat- 
ure is that everybody wants to be "It," and 
no one will consent to be subject — at least, 
not those who can boast of birth and lineage, 
good-breeding and education, but from 
whom, ofttimes, POSITION, and not the 
man himself, withholds the keys of the Par- 
lors ! 

Morally, the Americans have done a great 
deal towards improving the tone of the 
lower classes, among whom concubinage, at 
one time, was woefully rampant. As a re- 
sult, however, of the enforcement of the law 
against this mode of living, not less than 
twenty-five marriages occur daily on the 
Zone. 

Finally, I wish to testify to the truth of 
all the statements which I have made here— 
they are the plain truth; nothing but the 
truth; even if they do "hurt" those who are 
enemies of the Isthmus, and who are inimi- 
cal to the building of the great Interoceanic 
Water-way across the favored Panama 
route. 



a talc of the 
Old Washington House 



A Tale of the Old Washington 



House^ Colon. 



It was in the early Seventies. The Wash- 
ington House thut stood then, flanked on 
both sides by stately cocoanut-trees, was 
merely a shapeless pile of woodwork that, so 
to speak, tottered upon the crutches of its 
senility! For, for almost two decades, the 
building had been the sport and prey of 
every wind and weather, beneath the ever 
recurring stress of which, as the years rolled 
on, it gradually fell to decay, until, at last, 
it listed towards the sea-front heavily. 

The windows, nearly all of them, were 
hlind for the want 'of glasses; and the laths 
of the shutters, moist with the rime of the 
salt-sea air of years and years and years, 
hung loosely down, like so many dilapidated 
wooden pendants, with which the breezes 
toyed and rioted madly. 
87 



88 A TALE OF THE OLD 

The rooms were half the size of those of 
its now more pretentious successor, and the 
walls were thickly crusted with whitewash 
coatings, that constantly fell upon the 
painted floors in large thick scales, white as 
the snows that drop from heaven ! But good 
old Tom, the Bedroom Steward, was always 
"on deck," at shoulder-arm with his ubiqui- 
tous corn-broom, ready, like little Orphan 
Annie, to sweep the fallen debris away, and 
clear from every nook and corner the fes- 
toon and embroidery of cobwebs that. Hy- 
dra-like, sprang up constantly, despite of 
good old Tom, who finally proved himself to 
be no Hercules for them. 

Notwithstanding the simplicity of the 
building, right happy days were those of the 
Washington House of old! There was, in 
every sense of the word, a true and genuine 
Gomradery among the boys — the maddest, 
merriest lot one ever came across in Chris- 
tendom — up to all kinds of tricks, the suc- 
cessful perpetration of which, such was the 
entente cordiale, was never known to evoke 
a serious protest from the chap whose every 



WASHINGTON HOUSE. 89 

stick Qf furniture, bed and bedstead alike, 
had been taken from his room while he was 
out at night, and cast over the balcony on to 
the wet green lawn in front, to remain there 
till he returned to lift them up the steps him- 
self, and put them back again in their 
places; nor yet from the fellow who, by 
some daring piece of mendacity, had been 
divested of his property. No! In those days 
a practical joke met rather with pleasing 
applause than with any word or act or sign 
of protest; so much so, that one joke vas 
quickly followed by another, in which the 
last victim vould endeavor to get even with 
his latest perpetrator. But then, it was not 
to be wondered at that each man accepted 
his "dose" with such good grace and humor; 
for the boys of that time were, so to speak, a 
brotherhood of one. No tales were "carried 
out of school" when one had been taken 
home on the proverbial "shutter;" nor yet 
when another had been down the night 
before at Valdez's to spin the magic 
wheel, or, haply, to dance the Gumhia with 
Zoila! All this was kept as sacred as the 



90 A TALE OF THE OLD 

secrets that characterize the great Masonic 
Fraternity. 

With the exception of Jimmy Ward, Mac- 
kenzie, and Mike Devlanete, P. M. S. S. Co.'s 
men, the rest of the household was made up 
of Rail Road boys, who were : 

Slim Frankinton, Train Despatcher, Fred 
Hudsin, Commissary, W. Winchester, As- 
sistant Cashier, A. Sharpe, Secretary to the 
General Superintendent, and C. Walker, 
Road Master. There w^ere also the em- 
ployes of the lesser rank, of course, such as 
Scotty, Hendersin, Thatcher, Guthrie and 
George Dranrab, Check Clerks all of them. 

Then, there was dear old Billy Thomson, 
who occupied a room in the building. He 
was not connected with the Road in the days 
written of; but he had been once, in almost 
every position — down from Trackman up to 
the more exalted position of General Super- 
intendent, from which he resigned to enter 
the local mercantile arena. Thomson was 
the soul-embodiment of a gentleman! 
Through his kind and courteous manners, 
he had won for himself a tender spot in all 



WASHINGTON HOUSE. 91 

the hearts of the boys, who delighted to re 
s^ect and honor him. There ^Yere no "frills" 
about Billy Thomson at all ; he took as much 
pleasure sitting down spinning yarns to the 
boys as he did conversing with the G. S. of 
the Eoad ; and he was always to be found at 
the little seances held from time to time in 
the dear old Washington House. "When 
trouble was in the wind," as the saying goes, 
it was from Billy Thomson always that the 
boys would seek advice, and it was his 
"word," too, that "went" with them always. 
Among the Rail Road crowd, Scotty, 
though somewhat brusque in his manners, 
was the general favorite ; for, despite of the 
sixty years that had crowned his head with 
silver, he was the life and soul and music of 
the building, even if he did swear like a 
trooper! Scotty was a Scotchman every 
inch of him but one, and that was in his — 
liquor; for, strange to say, he was never 
known to touch the firewater of his country. 
Brandy, instead, was his poison, and of this 
he constantly kept a bottle behind an old 
leathern trunk of his he had brought from 



92 A TALE OF THE OLD 

England with him, and which, a wreck since 
of its former magnificence, stood within a 
quiet corner of his bedroom, instead of tak- 
ing its place in the graveyard of cast-off and 
unserviceable packages ! To this trunk, or, 
rather, to the narrow little dusty corridor, 
that ran between it and the wall, Scotty was 
wont to pay frequent visits daily- — he and 
himself alone ! For as for asking any of the 
boys to accompany him in a trago, that was 
out of the question entirely ! In fact, he had 
grown of late so supremely watchful of his 
liquor, that he never once failed, as Tom 
declared, to mark, with his ever wary eyes, 
the ebb-tide of the bottle each time he picked 
it up to help himself, which he invariably 
did most liberally. Finally, he became so or- 
thodox in his principle of inviting no one 
into his room to have a drink with him, that 
Slim Frankinton, in a conference held one 
night with Fred Hudsin, decided, there and 
then, to get square with Scotty on the very 
first opportunity that offered, and thus 
teach him a lesson for the future. 



WASHINGTON HOUSE. 93 



II. 



Time, that swings his pendulum inces- 
santly, had brought the New Year's Eve 
around, and the Washington House was 
decked out in full regalia of Chinese lan- 
terns and multicolored bunting, in celebra- 
tion of the occasion that marks the passing 
of one year, and heralds the advent of 
another ! 

On the lawn, fronting the seashore, there 
was deep-mouthed eloquence of fire-works, 
and the pandemonium was simply deafen- 
ing! The boys, it appears, had made up 
their minds to enjoy themselves on that 
night above all others — which they did, too, 
to their very hearts' content. Some of them, 
with crimson-cracker in hand, ensconced 
themselves behind the cocoanut-trees, and, 
in a second, dashed out again with their 
lighted fire-devils, and tossed them at each 



94 A TALE OF THE OLD 

other in a game of mimic warfare. A mad, 
glad, New Year's Eve was that — full of 
pleasant memories ; but of those who figured 
in the association of that dead time, few are 
left to tell its until-now-unwritten story. 

Scotty was the only one who had not 
joined the party on the lawn; he had had a 
day's hard work of it on the Dock, checking 
a heavy shipment of nails, which had come 
by the New York steamer, destined for San 
Francisco ; so he sat upon the balcony alone, 
and watched the proceedings below. 

It wa^ not long, however, before he fell 
into a deep slumber; and, as was his wont, 
began rehearsing in his sleep the fights he 
had had with his call-boy, and other little 
incidents, too, in connection with his day's 
checking 

"M. C. H. in a diamond, 5 kegs. Sir!" he 
broke out suddenly. Hang it ! why the devil 
don't you sing out louder? Can't hear a 
G — d— word you say ! — how many was it?" 

"Five kegs, Sir, and tally !" 

"You're a liar!" roared Scotty — "Hi, 
there, Lisha! hold on with your truck, 



WASHINGTON HOUSE. 95 

will you? It's all right; you can go 
ahead now : five and tally it is." 

Tlien^ after a while, he broke loose again 
into a wild fit of vituperation, which, sand- 
papered down, and passed through the finest 
crucible, Avould reduce itself to language 
nothing less refined than : 

"Hell ! I wish the man who shipped these 
nails had every one of them stuck into his 
blasted ribs — damn him !" 

But here, his dream was interrupted by a 
great red flash and a sputter and a boom! 
crack ! bang ! beneath the chair he sat in, 
which started him from his sleep with such 
a sudden bound that he was almost precipi- 
tated over the tottering balcony ! 

White with rage, he rose up to his full 
height, shook his clenched fists menacingly 
at the crowd on the lawn, and yelled out 
vociferously : 

"I'd like to know who the h — it was that 
did that ! Show me the fellow and I'll lick 
the life out of him right now !" With which 
he turned around quickly apparently with 
the object of putting his threat into execu- 



9fi WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

tion, when, lo! Hendersin, his dearest com- 
panion, stood before him just at the en- 
trance of the hallwaj^, immediately behind 
where he had been sitting. As they con- 
fronted each other, Hendersin gave a broad 
guffaw, and, with some difficulty, raised his 
hand and rested it on Scotty's shoulder, say- 
ing, somewhat incoherently : 

"Sh — say, — Sh — Scotty, — old — chap, — hie 
I — did — it, — see ? — and — hie — what — about 
it? — Want — ter — fight? — sh — better — not, 
— Sh— Scotty, — i' — sh — New — Year — hie 
come — and — have — a — drink — with — me ! 
— had — a — beau — sh — ful — time ! !' ' At all 
of which, Scotty simply exploded with 
laughter, and asked facetiously : 

"Say, Hendersin, what, in the name of 
heavens, have you been eating that has given 
you such an infernal indigestion?" 

"Eating?" responded Hendersin, grinning 
stupidly, "hie — foo'ish — question — don't — 
know — hie — sh — what — you're — talking — 
abjut! Sh — come — along — Sh — Scotty, old 
cliap, — and — I'll — sh — show — you — what — 
Ive — been — eating — hie." And he made a 



A TALE OF THE OLD 97 

bee-line for the steps, leading the way down- 
stairs to the little Keading-room, situated 
at the southwest end of the building. 

As they reached the entrance, Hendersin 
stumbled and fell into a shapeless bundle on 
the floor, with such a thud that the glasses 
and bottles which lay on the old mahogany 
table clattered and came together in an out- 
burst of apparent applause at the tableau- 
Hendersin ! 

For a moment Scotty was taken aback; 
for he stood stockstill before the doorway 
and gazed in perfect astonishment at the 
battery of jugs and bottles that fortified the 
table, intended only for the occupation of 
peaceful and instructive literature. 

Then, after a while, he stepped into the 
room and lifted liis friend, Hendersin to a 
chair. In the act of doing this, the entire 
party that had been "going it" on the lawn, 
tramped in noisily — each man bearing, gun- 
wise, a palm-branch over his shoulder, and 
singing lustily : 

"When Johnny comes marching home !" 
When the song had ceased, all eyes were 



98 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

turned towards the almost unrecognizable 
figure crouched up in a chair in one corner 
of the room — wondering who the person 
could be ! Frankinton, however, could stand 
the suspense no longer; so, weighted down 
with his burden of curiosity, he walked 
across the floor and laid his hand gently 
upon the drooping figure. Hendersin started 
at once, and raised his head slowly ; then he 
stretched himself out to his full length and 
breadth, and yawned aloud! Finally, he 
threw himself back into a reclininj^ attitude 
against the wall, grinned uglily at Frankin- 
ton, and began to sing in a hoarse and 
squeaky voice : 

"We won't go home till morning ! 

"We won't go home till morning!" 
when Frankinton yelled out to him : 

"For God's sake, Hendersin, shut up your 
darn racket, will you? Don't you know that 
Mack and his wife are asleep in the room 
next door? — ^A fine looking specimen of hu- 
manity, you are, ain't you?" said Frankin- 
ton, catching Hendersin by the shoulder, 
and shaking him admonishingly. 



A TALE OF THE OLD 99 

"None — of — your — darn — business !" 
shouted Hendersin; "to — hell — with — you, 
— Mack — and — his — wife — and — the 
v.hole bloomin' — crowd — of — you!" and 
then he started to sing the old refrain again : 
"We won't go home till morning ! 
"We won't go home till morning !" 
which he kept on repeating until he was 
almost out of breath. But he finally be- 
came less strenuous in his language — his ob- 
ject being, no doubt, to make atonement for 
his late vituperative outburst. 

"Franky — old — boy," he called out, some- 
what disconnectedly, "pass — the — bottle — 
'round — to — everyone — and — let's — 
have — a — drink — the — whole — of — us — to- 
gether ! And— say,— you— you— over— there 
—you— shaved— head— beggar !" he yelled 
out, pointing to Thatcher, "give— us— a 
liyeiy — tune — on — your — harmonica — will 
you — and — I'll — dance — a — good — old 
clog — for — the — company — by — way 
of — opening — up — the — ball !" 

The bottle was passed, accordingly, and 
all hands supplied their glasses, and tossed 



100 WASHINGTON HOUSE: 

their tragos down after pledging each other 
heartily. Then, Thatcher adjusted his am- 
ple mouth to his harmonica, Sharp tickled 
his violin with bow and finger, while Hen- 
dersin, w^ho had recovered somewhat from 
his late attack of indigestion, rose from his 
chair and stood up in the centre of the room, 
waiting for the first outburst of the music, 
with his arms akimbo! The instruments 
were, at last, awakened to measure: Sharp 
scraped his violin frantically ; Thatcher held 
his own on his harmonica, while the boys 
beat a lively tattoo upon their knees by w^ay 
of accompaniment. Then Hendersin started 
dancing wildly; but he had not well begun 
before every man rose up and formed a cir- 
cle around the table. When everybody had 
fallen into line, Hudsin stepped forward 
and called out at the top of his voice : 

"Now, boys, wait and take the time from 
me ! One — Two — Three — Musica! — Let — 
'ergo !" and every foot began to sway simul- 
taneously, till the flooring creaked beneath 
the burden of the dancers ! 

When the revel had reached its highest, 



A TALE OF THE OLD 101 

Wincherster held his hands aloft and sang 

out amidst the infernal uproar : 

"Hoop-la! — Let 'er rip! — Go it, boys! 

Shake 'em up ! All hands 'round ! — Balance 
to your partners lively! Up and down the 
centre ! — Left wheel ! — keep it up, boys ! Hi ! 
— Hi ! — Hi, there !" and a chorus of "Hi's !" 
went up from every mouth as the dancers' 
feet came down upon the floor, keeping time 
with the rhythm of the music ! Finally, 
the dancing ceased, and all hands fell into 
their chairs, exhausted — panting and puff- 
ing heavily. Then there was a brief pause 
for breathing, after which Jimmy Ward 
pulled his watch out of his pocket and said : 
"Boys, it's just three minutes now to the 
hour of twelve, so let's fill our glasses once 
more and drink the New Year in!" 

The motion being seconded by Mike, and 
unanimously carried, the bottles were 
drained of their last intoxicating drop of 
liquor; then a moment's silence ensued — a 
silence, haply, dedicated to thoughts of 
home and to loved-ones over the boundless 
waters ! Suddenly, however, the clock upon 



102 WASHINOTON HOUSE. 

the mantel-shelf began to toll out mourn- 
fullv the last hour of the senile year, which 
woke the boys from their reverie; and just 
as the stroke of twelve vibrated, in an echo, 
every man clinked glasses and drank; then, 
hand-in-hand, sang "Auld Lang Syne'' to- 
gether. 

When this deathless song had ceased, it 
was discovered that Scotty and Hendersin 
were missing from the crowd. No search 
was made for them, however, because it was 
deemed best to leave, at least, Hendersin 
alone to get over the effects of the night's 
hard dissipation. But the rest of the boys 
stayed on, bent each one, on keeping the ball 
a-rolling. 

The first man to reopen the proceedings 
was Slim Frankinton. Drawing his chair 
close up to the table, he sat down and gazed 
enquiringly at the regiment of bottles lined 
off before him. Then he looked upon his 
empty glass forlornly, and picked the bottles 
up, one by one, and shook them vigorously 
to ascertain if there was anything left in 
them; finding nothing, he laid them back 
again upon the table, saying: 



A TALE OF THE OLD 103 

"Boys, I'm sorry to tell you there isn't a 
single drop of liquor left; but— 'sh— don't 
give it away," lie commanded, shrugging his 
shoulders and turning around to see if any- 
one outside was listening. "It's all right," 
he resumed in a whisper, "no need to worry 
about a drink," he said, "for I've got the 
whole thing fixed, and if you chaps will only 
hold your tongues for a minute, I'll tell you 
all about it. I've got a scheme on hand that 
you couldn't beat to save your lives — Nay — 
;Nay — Pauline!" And he turned around 
again looking for eavesdroppers. Convinced 
that all was well, he took the crowd in his 
confidence : 

"Boys," he said, "it's just this : Scotty has 
a couple bottles of brandy hidden away be- 
hind that antediluvian trunk of his ; he got 
them to-day from Johnny Ugg ; so, if you'll 
all stand by me, I promise to get one of them 
before I'm two hours older — if I don't, then 
my name isn't what it is; furthermore, if I 
fail, I'll take you down to the Howard 
House, whenever you're ready, and set up 
the drinks for the wdiole outfit !" 



104 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

All hands having promised their hearty 
co-operation, Frankinton disclosed his plan 
of campaign on Scotty's brandy, after which 
everybody proceeded to leave the room. But 
George Dranrab, fearing that Scotty was 
not yet well asleep, saw the wisdom of ad- 
vising a little delay in the adventure. 

"Dear boys," he called out in his usual en- 
dearing fashion, "I wouldn't risk it now if I 
were you. Better wait a few minutes more ; 
it will be safer then. In the meanwhile, to 
pass the time away, let's get Mike to give us 
a story; so sit down, the whole of you, and 
make yourselves at home — where you ought 
to be," he remarked facetiously. 

"George, old man !" exclaimed Walker, "it 
isn't a bad idea at all!" Then everybody 
called on Mike, who stepped forward de- 
murely, and stood up for a while, fumbling 
with his watch-chain — his eyes elevated to 
the ceiling — waiting to catch the very first 
wave of inspiration. Growing impatient at 
waiting so long on Mike, Walker called out 
suddenly : 

"Come along now, Mike; give us some- 



A TALE OF THE OLD 105 

thing — you can't get out of it — no ! — not on 
jour life ! Tell us about the night that Hud- 
sin swam across the Lagoon, with all his 
clothing on, to get away from a policeman 
who had been chasing him. 

But Mike blushed all over and said, "I 
really couldn't give you that one!" Then 
Frankinton got up and suggested : 

"Well, perhaps, you'll tell us about the 
night that Walker stoned the Washington 
House, and Hudsin came out on the balcony 
with his gun and popped away at him — yes, 
you remember, don't you? how Walker, 
after the first shot had been fired, ran and 
hid himself behind a cocoanut-tree, scream- 
ing out : 'For God's sake, Hudsin, stop your 
shooting! — -it's I, Walker!' " 
i ^No! — No! — No!" interrupted little 
Wardy, the Englishman, "that ain't what 
we want, at all ! Let's 'ave instead, the 
bloomin' one 'bout you and Frankinton — 
dbn't you know? I mean that shooting af- 
fair," he said, addressing himself to Mike. 

"Yes! — Yes! — Yes!" shrieked the whole 
crowd together. 



i06 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

"Wardy, old chap, you've just struck it 
right!" exclaimed Wincherster — "give it to 
us, Mike, it's a good one on you !" 

"So, after exchanging a few consulting 
glances with Frankinton, who signalled 
over, "I don't mind if you do," Mike scraped 
his throat and began : 

"Well, boys, I remember the night full 
well. I had just '.ome in from work, tired 
as I could possibly be, and was preparing to 
go to bed, when Frankinton called out to me 
from his room, adjoining mine : " 'Mike ! — • 
Oh, Mike! — are you there, Mikey?' as he 
used to call me when he was in a good 
humor. 

" 'Yes! — Yes! — Frankinton,' I replied; 
what, in the name of heavens, is the diffi- 
culty now? — Is George dead, at last?' I en- 
quired. 

" 'Dead?' he exclaimed interrogatively, 
and in a tone of voice that smacked of im- 
possibility. 'Not on your life! Why, look 
here, Mike,' he answered, 'you couldn't kill 
him with a crowbar, if you tried to !' 

" 'No! it wasn't that; what I wanted to 



A TALE OF THE OLD 107 

say to you, Mikey, was just this : it's the an- 
niversary of my birthday, and I'd like you to 
come over and have a friendly drink with me 
in celebration of the occasion. I've got a 
bottle of good old Jamaica here I bought 
from Dewsberry this afternoon, that'll make 
your hair curl and your head swim all at 
the same time— labeled Special Brand; and, 
just fancy, twenty years old,' he commented 
invitingly. 

" 'No thanks, Franjdnton, it's too late 
now,' I replied ; 'and what's more, I'm dead 
tired, and am going to turn in right away; 
for I have to be up early in the morning, to 
meet the Colon and assort her papers in 
time to despatch them to Panama by the 
first train leaving — so, good night, old 
chap, and don't bother me any more !' 

" 'Tired the devil!' he retorted angrily, 
'you've got to come and have a drink with 
me, Mike, or else there'll be trouble !' 

"But I paid no attention to him what- 
ever, and turned in to bed quickly. 

"I had barely dimpled the pillow with 
my head, when I heard the sound of hurry- 



108 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

ing footsteps in the hallway. Immediately, 
I jumped up and fastened every door and 
window, and stood in the centre of the room 
awaiting developments. I did not have to 
wait for very long, though ; for, suddenly, I 
saw^, under the crevice of the doorway, the 
glimmer of a sharp steel weapon, which the 
moonlight, streaming through the sashes, re- 
vealed to be the blade of a machete! This 
Frankinton swayed from one side of the 
door to the other in a vain attempt to force 
an opening. Finding his efforts futile, he 
called out to me, despairingly : 

" 'Mike! — Oh, Mike! — are you coming, 
Mikey? — uno nada masF he said, swinging 
the machete lively. 

"Terrified, and with the view of appeas- 
ing Frankinton, I made answer : 

" 'All right, Franky, old bo}^, go to your 
room now, and I'll be there in a minute!' 
With which assurance he went away quiet- 
ly, leaving me, almost out of breath from 
fright, standing up and gazing blankly 
around the room, the while I listened to the 



A TALE OF THE OLD 109 

sound of his receding footsteps in the hall- 
way. 

"As soon as I knew he had reached his 
apartment, I got into bed and cuddled up 
under the counterpane, hoping that Frank- 
inton had forgotten all about the promise I 
had made him ; when lo ! he began with his 
threat again : 

" 'Mike!' he shouted, 'you'd better quit 
your fooling — see? and come at once, for I 
ain't waiting any longer on you — sahe! In 
fact, I'm going to give you just three more 
calls, Mike, and if you're not on the way by 
that time, why then, you can look out for 
squalls, I tell you; for, by the Holy Moses, 
I'll shoot for sure!' Then he immediately 
started to put his threat into execution. 

" 'Mike,' he began, are you coming? — 
uno F 

"No answer. 

" 'Mike,' for the second time, are you 
coming? — dosF 

"Still no answer. 

" 'Mike,' he continued, deliberatel}^ and 



110 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

slowly, 'for the third — and — last — time, 
Mike, are you coming? — tresF 

"But never an answer did he get from me. 
And so, exasperated over my unyielding 
silence, he called out quickly : 

" 'Well, then, here she goes. Mike!' and 
the last word had scarcely escaped utter- 
ance when, lo! there was a terrible report, 
and a flash like lightning; then a bullet 
hissed by me, just an inch or so above the 
spot where I lay in bed dozing. 

"Quickly, I started as from some horrible 
nightmare, and was on my feet in a second 
— scared to death, and shaking like a jelly- 
fish! In fact, it was only long after I had 
recovered from the shock, that I began to 
realize just what had happened, and the nar- 
row escape that I had had. Frankinton, too ; 
for he called out to me somewhat nervously : 

" 'For God's sake, Mike, are you hurt at 
all, old chap? — talk out, will you? for the 
thing has given me the ague !' 

"Then, I thought I heard him shiver — 'br 
— r — r — !' but I gave him no answer, think- 
ing that the addition of a little suspense to 



A TALE OF THE OLD 111 

his anxiety, would serve him well as a lesson 
for the future. When I felt that I had kept 
him waiting long enough for an answer, I 
relented, and broke the silence. 

" 'I'm all right, Franky,' I said, 'and alive 
and kicking; but that isn't all of it — no! 
not by a jug full ! I've had a narrow escape, 
I can tell you, and I want to say this much, 
Frankinton, I'm pretty mad with you for 
what you've just done! I cannot, for the 
life of me, understand what got it into your 
head to commit so rash an act. Anyhow, 
we'll drop the matter for the present, for 
I'm tired, and am going to bed at once; but 
to-morrow you'll hear further from me on 
the subject.' 

"This, no doubt, was taken by Frankinton 
in the spirit of a threat; and I fancy, too, 
that he must have pictured himself, valise 
in hand, boarding the next outgoing steamer 
for New York — at least, I judged so by the 
tremor in his voice when he answered : 

" 'Mike, old chap, now look here; there's 
no use in your getting riled at all ! I really 
didn't mean to do it — So help me God, I 



112 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

didn'tj Mike ! And I'll take my solemn oath 
to it, that I never even knew the gun was 
loaded, till the darn thing went off on me 
suddenly ! Will you believe me, Mike, and 
give me your word that you'll say nothing 
of this affair to the Old Man to-morrow?' 

"Feeling convinced that he was really in 
earnest, and perfectly innocent of any at- 
tempt on my life, I made him the promise, 
and both of us turned in to our respective 
beds — Frankinton, hapl}^, resolving to fool 
no more with firearms, and I, well — wonder- 
ing over the miraculous escape that I had 
had." 

It was just 1 o'clock of New Year's morn- 
ing when Mike had finished his story, at the 
close of which the Reading-room re-echoed 
with a wild burst of laughter and applause, 
that must have awakened the entire neigh- 
borhood ! Then there began the stamping of 
feet, which was simply uproarious; but 
when the din had reached to a deafening 
point, Frankinton, always the man of emer- 
gency, rose to the present occasion, held his 
hands aloft, and, waving them to and fro 



A TALE OF THE OLD 113 

above his sparsely-covered head, demanded 
silence at the top of his wee small voice — 

"There! — There! — There!" he said, 
"that's enough of your racket now, boys! 
Quit your noise, I say, for it's late, and the 
whole neighborhood will be reporting us to- 
morrow to the Old Man ; and then some of 
us may get it in the neck! Do you all know 
what time it is now?" he asked, looking 
down gravely on his watch, which he held 
in his hand, as he said in answer to his own 
question : 

"Well, it's about time to get a move on 
us ! I am feeling pretty darn dry, I can tell 
you, and I guess you must all be about in 
the same condition as I am ; so, come along 
now," he commanded impatiently, as he 
turned around and motioned the crowd to 
the doorway; he taking the lead outside, 
while the rest of the boys followed him, 
until they were all in Hudsin's room, where 
it had been arranged to carry out the plan 
of capturing the bottle of Scotty's brandy. 



114 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 



III. 



Hudsin's room was situated at the north- 
east end of the building, which fronted the 
palm-rimmed -seashore. It was, of course, 
the best furnished apartment in the prem- 
ises because, well — it was the Commis- 
sary's. 

In this room, that early New Year's 
morning, sat Fred Hudsin, Jimmy Ward, 
George Dranrab, Slim Frankinton, Will 
Wincherster, John Guthrie, Mike Dev- 
lante, A. Sharp, Alex Walker and Tom 
Thatcher, all of them speaking in subdued 
voices. 

After a short while, there was suppressed 
laughter among the croAvd; and every eye 
was turned on Frankinton when he got up 
from his chair and walked across the floor 
to the little marble-top wash-stand, that 
stood in one corner of the bedroom. When 
he reached the wash-stand, he rolled up his 



A TALE OF THE OLD 115 

shirt-sleeves, as far back as they could go, 
and busied himself as he said humorously: 

"Gentlemen of the Jury, we'll now pro- 
ceed with the affairs of this Convention;" 
saying which he picked up a piece of sweet- 
soap, placed it into a basin, threw some 
water over it, and began stirring the soap 
around until it had dissolved itself into 
thick Avhite suds, that foamed and bubbled. 
During this strange performance, the boys 
gazed curiously at Frankinton, and a far- 
away look illumined every man's eye — a 
look, well, in which, it seemed, there re- 
flected the memory of long-dead days, asso- 
ciated with white clay pipes, that spouted 
rainbow-colored bubbles, which went up to 
heaven and burst in the clear-blue skies of 
happy childhood! 

But a sudden rap at the door, which 
broke the spell of this delightful reverie, 
sent the boys into dire confusion, while 
Frankinton quickly picked up the basin, 
which contained the soap-suds that he had 
just been churning, and, lying flat upon his 
stomach on the floor, hid it under the bed 



116 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

as far back as his slender hand could 
reach; then everybody began to put on a 
borrowed-look of angelic goodness. 

When everj^thing was quiet, Hudsin rose 
and opened the door; Avhen, to his great 
surprise, dear old Billy Thomson and Wil- 
lie Mackenzie stood before him — the one 
holding up the frame of the doorway and 
smiling good-naturedly upon the crowd in- 
side; the other sour of countenance and 
ready to explode with vituperation ! 

Billy Thomson was the first to break 
the silence: 

"Young gentlemen — young gentlemen," 
he said, with much deliberation, "don't you 
think you've all had enough of this thing 
already?" 

"Enough?" interrupted Mackenzie, gruff- 
ly; "darn it, I should say they have had! 
Why, hang it ! my wife and I haven't had a 
blessed wink of sleep during the livelong 
night, on account of the disgraceful racket 
downstairs. Have you chaps thought for a 
moment what the Old Man would say if 
this scandalous affair was ever brought to 



A TALE OF THE OLD 117 

his notice? There'd be trouble, I can tell 
you! I' guess," lie continued more mode- 
rately, ''you've all forgotten the night that 
he threatened, in the presence of you all in 
the Eeading-room down-stairs, to shut up 
the Washington House if you fellows didn't 
behave different to what you were doing 

then " 

"Mack!" interrupted Hudsin, ''for heav- 
en's sake, quit your lecturing now, and 
come in just for a minute, won't you? — 
you, too, Mr. Thomson; for there's some- 
thing doing : Frankinton has a small bet on 
hand which he wants to settle immediately. 
If he loses, he's to blow us off at the How- 
ard House this evening; and just fancy, 
Old Pike is to make the cocktails for us. 
Poor fellow! What a time he'll have 
shaking 'em up with that queer-shaped 
hand of his! Anyhow, you must come in 
and see the fun; we're going to work a 
little game on." Here Hudsin broke off 
abruptly, and stood up between Thomson 
and Mackenzie, with a hand laid upon each 
one's shoulder as he whispered to both of 



118 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

them something that brought a smile upon 
their faces and induced them to join the 
happy gathering. 

As soon as all hands were settled in their 
seats, Frankinton resumed his soap-suds 
operations, Avhile Hudsin began undressing 
himself and getting into his silk pajamas. 
His pajamas on, Hudsin jumped into bed 
Avith such a fierce bound that the spring 
mattress vibrated beneath him for some 
seconds afterwards; a performance which, 
of course, created no little amusement 
among the party, and sent the boys into a 
fit of laughter. 

"Hi ! there !" shouted Frankinton ; "that's 
enough of your stupid giggling, now ! If 
you don't stop this foolish laughing, we'll 
be up a gum-tree just as sure as you live!" 
With this admonition he clenched his right 
hand tightly and held it high up in the air, 
with which command he finally brought the 
boys to order. 

Silence reigning in the room, Frankin- 
ton immediately proceeded to pose Hudsin 
in the bed for the occasion of the onslaught 



A TALE OF THE OLD 119 

on Scotty's brandy. The adjustment over, 
it was the most comical sight that one 
could ever imagine. There was Hudsin, 
lying stretched out at full length upon the 
bed, under a snow-white counterpane, with 
a stern, rigid, look upon his countenance 
that betrayed the determination, come 
what might, to intercept the smile that 
dared to threaten the long-contemplated 
scheme with ruin ! 

At the side of the bed stood George 
Dranrab, judge-serious, holding the basin 
of soap-suds, awaiting the time for action. 
At this particular juncture, the meeting 
rose to its highest pitch of excitement, and 
speculations began to run wild as to the 
ultimate outcome of a crazy undertaking! 
Frankinton, however, stood to his gun like 
a man, and Hudsin, too, to the disagreeable 
and unsavory part which he was playing 
in the entire affair. 

When everything was ready, Frankinton 
gave his last instructions to Hudsin, then 
turned to Dranrab and said: 

"Remember now. Dear George,'' which 



120 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

was the name that Dranrab always went 
by, "you know exactly what to do! For 
God's sake, don't make a mess of the thing ! 
If you do, well, my name will be Dennis, 
whatever that may mean ! Listen carefully 
now, and take it all in : when you hear us 
coming, fill up Hudsin's mouth with the 
r;uds, and leave the balance to the patient." 

Saying which, he took his way out 
quietl3', and went in the direction of Scot- 
ty's room that was situated on the other 
side of the building. Scotty was fast 
asleep at the time ; but as the first rap 
sounded on his door, he jumped up, and, in 
his usual rough style demanded at the top 
of his voice: 

"Who the devil is there? and what in 

h do you want of me at this early hour 

of the morning?" 

"Hush — hush — hush, Scotty; for the 
Lord's sake, hush; don't make such a fear- 
ful noise, old chap — the shock might kill 
him ! — it's I, Frankinton." 

"Well, what is the matter now?" thun- 
dered Scotty. "I really don't understand 



A TALE OF THE OLD 121 

you!— 'The shock might kill him?' Why 
don't you talk out plainly? — kill whom? — 
By God, I begin to think you've got 'em bad 
this time, Frankinton I Go on with you, and 
get to bed now!— A nice shine that you've 
all kicked up downstairs — isn't it? Glad I 
wasn't in the crowd!" 

"That's all right, Scotty; it doesn't cut 
any figure at all whether you were there or 
not; I came here only to — to — to — tell — 
you — " said Frankinton, smothering a great 
lump of laughter with the tail-end of his 
pa jama jacket — 

"Darn it !" interrupted Scotty, "why don't 
3^ou spit it out quickly? — to tell me Kliat?'' 

"To tell you, Scotty, that Hudsin has just 
been taken in pretty sick, and to ask if you 
wouldn't come over and see if you can do 
anything for him. The poor fellow Is 
threatened with a fit, it seems; for his eyes 
are wild, and his face is as red as it can be !" 

"You don't say!" exclaimed Scott}^, ex- 
citedly opening the door and admitting 
Frankinton. 

"That's just what I do, Scotty; so hurry 



122 WASHINGTON HOUSE, 

up and come; for there isn't a moment to 
lose!" 

After a very trifling delay, hunting for 
his slippers, which he finally found under 
the furthermost part of the bed, where 
we're sure to find our slippers always, Scot- 
ty rushed out of his room, E'rankinton fol- 
lowing him closely. 



A TALE OF THE OLD 123 



IV. 



The first thing that attracted Scotty's at- 
tention as he entered Hudsin's room, was 
the figure that lay stretched out on the bed 
supinely. For a moment, Scotty stood up 
silent and aghast ; then, with a look of earn- 
est solicitude, that multiplied the wrinkles 
on his lineaments, he bent down enquir- 
ingly over Hudsin, when his eyes met the 
wild and glassy stare of the patient's. 

Observing, at once, that Hudsin was 
foaming at his mouth, copiously, Scotty 
became alarmed, and turned around and 
exclaimed : 

"Gracious goodness, boys ! the fellow is in 
a fit — sure ! Look at him ! — his eyes are al- 
most bursting from their sockets; and see! 
— he's got another attack again! — Run for 
the doctor ! — somebody ! — anybody !" he 
yelled excitedly; and then he began to navi- 
gate the full length and breadth of the bed- 



124 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

room — confused and lost as to what to do 
for the patient in the meantime! Regain- 
ing his equilibrium, he resumed calmly : 

"For God's sake, Frankinton, have you 
nothing at all in the house to give the poor 
chap to drink? If you have, why — d — it! 
trot it out quickly, and don't leave the man 
suffering here like this for the want of 
something to revive Mm !" 

This little speech from Scotty had wound 
the crowd up almost to a bursting tension; 
but Slim Frankinton, good general as he 
was always, stepped forward and answered 
promptly : 

"Scotty, old chap, I'm sorry to tell you 
there isn't a drop of anything around here; 
but say," he added naively, "perhaps you 
have, and wouldn't mind coming to the res- 
cue like a good fellow." 

Here, Frankinton had driven the wedge 
right home — scoring one on Scotty; for the 
appeal had come just when a man's exist- 
ence, as Scotty believed at the time, hung in 
the balance of his decision, on which all 



A TALE OF THE OLD 125 

hands waited with keen and breathless 
anxiety ! 

But, in the crucial moment, the better 
part of Scotty soon prevailed, as it will al- 
ways with men of his stamp and calibre! 
For he immediately raised his head, that 
had been bent down in deep deliberation, 
mopped the glistening beads of perspira- 
tion off his forehead, then, after gazing 
thoughtfully around, dashed out of the 
room a la spread-eagle, and dashed back, 
again — out of breath, and bearing under his 
left arm a bottle of brandj^, from which the 
cork had not yet been extracted. 

Thrusting the bottle into Frankinton's 
hand, he exclaimed, somewhat excitedly : 

"Here you are, Franky, old boy; open it 
quickly and give him a good, stiff slug while 
I run and call the doctor!" 

And off he went like a shot, for Hitchcock; 
who lived in one of the small bungalows 
that stood then where the more imposing 
residence of the General Superintendent is 
now standing. 

When the last sound of his footsteps had 



126 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

died into the distance, there was a great 
laugh on Scotty, during which Hudsin got 
up, closed the door securely, rinsed his 
mouth out, and afterwards began to re- 
habilitate himself. 

Flushed with triumph, Frankinton 
turned to Hudsin, who had won his laurels, 
too, in the heroic part he had played in the 
whole affair, and commanded him to open 
the bottle and pass the contents 'round to 
everybody. Then, when all the glasses were 
charged, Hudsin lifted his, and, with an air 
of self-satisfaction lighting up his counte- 
nance, his lips curled into a pleasant smile, 
said : 

"Well, boys, I guess it's about time now 
we did have something to brace us up a bit ! 
— here's to Scotty !" 

Then every man tossed his trago do'vn, 
while "Scotty !" — "Scotty !" — "Scotty !" 
rent the quiet of the New Year morning and 
died away into an echo. 



A TALE OF THE OLD 127 



V. 



Scotty was not aware of the fact, how- 
ever, that Frankinton had called on 
Hitchock the day before, and, confiding to 
him the secret of his contemplated intrigue, 
had solicited his medical co-operation — 
whereupon the good-natured doctor had dis- 
missed him, saying : 

"It's all right, Franky; go ahead and 
count on me whenever you're ready; and 
you can just bet your sweet life that I'll be 
there on time to put the finishing touches to 
the job. Darn my soul if I don't think it'll 
be a pretty good lesson for Scotty in the 
future !" 

Ignorant of all this, Scotty went his way 
that early Ncav Year morning in search of 
the doctor, whom he did not find at his 
bungalow, however. He had been called 
out, as the negro inside informed him, to 
attend to Mrs. Smith, the dear old soul of 



128 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

Howard House notoriety, who had been 
taken suddenly ill with a severe attack of 
inflammatory rheumatism. Scotty was, 
therefore, compelled to walk all the way 
down town to hunt up Hitchock, upon 
whose head, every step and turn he made, he 
poured forth his wrath through an almost 
exhaustless vocabulary of "cuss-words," 
from which the pen would blush to quote in 
these pages ! 

This, Mike learnt, sometime afterwards, 
from black old Sophie Taylor, Purveyor, in 
those days, to the P. M. S. S. steamers, 
whom he met one morning carrying under 
her arm a large basket of provisions which 
she said "Missa Badgly de 'teward, "had 
'axed her fe fetch fe him." 

Laying her burden down upon the side- 
walk, in front of Butler's Barber-Shop, 
where one heard the gossip of the day from 
the tonsorial artist, she told the story in her 
own peculiar vernacular: 

"Lawd, me Gawd, sir!" she exclaimed, 
putting up her hand to her mouth with an 
fiir of extreme indignation, "tell me, me 



A TALE OF THE OLD 129 

good Massa, de what been matter wid Missa 
Scotty de oder morning — eh? Well, sir, I 
always know dat de gentleman could 'a' cuss 
fe true ; but, me mudder me dead ! I neber 
hear him swear as him did de oder morning 
I meet him up coming' down Front 'treet, 
bruck-neck fashion, looking for de doctar! 
Me backra pickney! dat was what you call 
cuss-cuss wid a vengeance! I neber hear 
anyt'ing like it in all me born-days life — no, 
sir! Cho! me face would fall flat to de 
groun' if I eber was to 'tan' up so tell you 
all de bad wuds him cuss dat morning ! — be- 
lieve me, Missa Devlante, I really t'ink de 
sound o' dem would 'top up you' two ears- 
hole worse dan when wax get into dem !" 

But Mike needed no telling; he, and, for 
the matter of that, the rest of the boys knew 
full well that when it came to "cussing" — 
real, hard, straight- forward, unvarnished 
ungilded "cussing" — Scotty took the palm 
and — kept it always. 

After this unavoidable digression, we'll 
take the reader back to Hudsin's room. 



130 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

where the revel had subsided into that calm 
which generally follows a storm. 

Here we find Frankinton looking seri- 
ous, and asking in a nervous sort of voice : 

"But, say, boys, what, in the name of 
heavens, are we going to say to Scotty about 
this thing when he returns? — he'll surely 
want to know what has become of the bal- 
ance of his brandy; and, certainly^ we'll 
have to tell him something — anything, un- 
til he finds out for himself the real truth of 
the story. So, come now, get your heads 
together and try your best to work out some 
good, plausible yarn before he pounces in 
upon us, which he is liable to do at any min- 
ute now " 

"The devil!" shouted Hudsin, stepping 
forward and looking defiant, "what in the 
world are you all beginning to lose your 
nerves about? — give me the empty bottle," 
he demanded, taking the same from Frank- 
inton and hiding it under one of the pillows 
on the bed, saying : ^'The doctor and I will 
attend to tliat part of the business when the 
proper time arrives. 



A TALE OF THE OLD 131 

Here, the sound of approaching footsteps 
on the staircase interrupted the speaker 
suddenl}^, and a general stampede ensued: 
With all his clothing on, Hudsin sprang in- 
to bed, drew the counterpane quickly over 
him as far up to his neck as it could go, 
turned his face towards the wall, and 
"made believe" that he was sleeping. 

When everything and everybody had set- 
tled down quietly, Frankinton lowered the 
light a bit, then opened the door and ad- 
mitted Scotty, who was accompanied by the 
doctor. 

"Well !" growled Hitchock before he had 
even entered the room, "what's the trouble 
now? — calling a man so early in the morn- 
ing ! Darn it ! if you chaps would only quit 
taking that vile stuff you drink any 
and everywhere you go down town, you 
wouldn't get the jim-jams as often, I'll bet 
you !" 

"How is Hudsin?" he asked abruptly, 

"Sleeping quietly," responded Frankin- 
ton. 

"Any more fits?" 



132 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

"No !" was the laconic reply from Frank- 
inton. 

"That's good!" said Hitchock, as he 
walked in and took a seat alongside of the 
bed on which Hudsin was lying; shortly 
after doing which he tested the pseudo-pa- 
tient's pulse, looking down upon his watch 
gravely. 

During this serio-comic performance, 
however, Hudsin remained perfectly imper- 
turbable, and the boys held their breath for 
all they were worth, fearing the result of an 
outburst of pent-up laughter! Finally, 
Hitchock broke the terrible silence of the 
moment 

"He's resting calmly now, and his pulse 
is fairly regular," he said without a single 
twitch of his countenance; then he resumed 
shortly : 

"He'll be all right again as soon as he 
wakes up." 

"But, say. Doc', what do you think gave 
him those awful fits?" enquired Scotty ner- 
vously. 

*^What do I think gave him those awful 



A TALE OF THE OLD 133 

fits?" repeated the doctor satirically; "well, 
now, look here, Scotty, if you'd only put the 
thing the other way 'round, old chap, pre- 
fixing your question with 'Who' instead of 
'What,' I should answer, without the slight- 
est hesitation that — you are responsible for 
them all!" at which mysterious response 
Scotty was startled, and he fell back a step 
or two — his face as livid as a ghost's ! 

"I?" was his laconic rejoinder. "I'm 
afraid. Doc', I do not catch on to you 
exactly! what the devil could / have to do 
with Hudsin's fits, will you tell me?" 

"Lots !" exclaimed the doctor, shoving his 
hand under a pillow and withdrawing it 
again quickly — saying as he did so : 

"And here's a proof of it ! — do you recog- 
nize this?" asked Hitchock, holding up an 
empty bottle to Scotty, and tapping upon it 
with the ringed third finger of his right 
hand; "this," he said, "contained the stuff 
that has been the sole cause of Hudsin's 
trouble!" But Scotty did not understand, 
nor yet did he try to ; for the moment, he re- 
membered only his precious brandy, against 



134 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

the loss of which he protested good-humor- 
edly. 

"Kecognize," he answered, "a darn look- 
ing wreck of a thing like that, without a 
drop of liquor left into it? — recognize hell! 
— no, sir, not by a d — sight!" 

"Hush your racket there, will you, Scot- 
ty?" interposed Frankinton calmly, "Hang 
it," he continued, "ain't you got any better 
sense than that — making such a noise when 
the doctor has just given a hj^podermic of 
morphine to Hudsin, who must be kept per- 
fectly quiet?" 

With which reproof Scotty was silenced 
immediately ! For, strange to say, from the 
very beginning of the farce to the present 
stage of the performance, the possibility of 
dissemblance had never once occurred to 
Scotty. Rather to the contrary: every- 
thing appeared too natural, as he thought, 
for him to have looked upon the whole 
affair in the light of a huge practical joke 
only. There was the doctor's visit, for in- 
stance, and then the hypodermic of mor- 
phine, both of which, after revolving them 



A TALE OF THE OLD 135 

carefully over in his mind, he accepted as 
ample evidence that there was no deception 
underlying the Hudsin-case at all; and so, 
as a natural consequence, suspicion lay dor- 
mant within him. 

What, of course puzzled Scotty im- 
mensely was Hitchcock's charge against 
him ; and he wondered upon what ground the 
doctor could have made the imputation. 
Gould there have been anything, he imag- 
ined, in the quality of the liquor — which, by 
the way, he had since discovered was none 
of the best — that had brought about such 
serious results to Hudsin? But then, he 
dismissed the thought immediately, seeing 
that the effect had not been general. Never- 
theless, bewildered over the matter, he 
stood up silent for a moment, gazing upon 
the floor, and looking thoughtful. ' 

By this time, however, Hudsin had 
reached the limit of his endurance, and 
could stand the strain no longer; so, taking 
advantage of Sc6tty's preoccupation, he 
turned, almost imperceptibly, over in the 
bed and nudged the doctor with Ijis elbow. 



136 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

Hitchock took the hint at once, and made a 
sign to Frankinton; soon after which the 
lamp, that had been burning dimly on the 
table, went oui out suddenly and left all 
hands in total darkness ! 

When the lamp had again been lighted, 
there appeared a perfect revelation before 
Scotty! There was Hudsin, sitting up at 
the edge of the bed, his feet upon the floor, 
his elbows resting on his knees, his hands 
supporting his forehead. After a while, he 
raised his head up slowly, made grimaces 
at the crowd, and burst out laughing — 
belching forth a whole mouthful of soap- 
suds and besmearing everj^body! Then it 
was that the whole thing dawned, at last, on 
Scotty, who, accepting the joke with a sense 
of good humor, joined in the laughter, that 
soon became general, and shortly after 
turned to Hitchock and exclaimed : 

"Je-rusalem !" — with an accent on the 
first syllable — "is that the man who had a 
fit a moment ago. Doc'? If it is, well, darn 
my soul, Jie did the thing to the letter ! And 



A TALE OF THE OLD 137 

as for you and Frankinton, Doc', well! 
well! well! le' me tell jou this right here 
now; you're the bossest pair of liars I ever 
have come across ! But it's all right, boys," 
he said, turning around and addressing 
himself to the crowd, "I own up to it, 
frankly, that you've caught me this time; 
but say — don't make any mistake about it 
—not as badly as you all might think you 
have! Where's the empty bottle? Give it 
to me," he demanded abruptlj^, taking it 
from Frankinton and examining the label. 
The scrutiny over, he laid the bottle down 
upon the table, stroked his hair, and ex- 
claimed suggestively: 

"For heaven's sake ! — do you chaps know 
what you've all been drinking? — Guess!" 
In answer to which every man raised his 
left hand to his mouth, held his stomach up 
with the right one, and shouted all to- 
gether : 

"What?" 

"Hold on now, boys; you needn't get so 
excited over nothing; just keep cool for a 
minute, and I'll tell you 'What,'" re- 



138 WASHINGTON HOUSE. 

sponded Scotty. "I've made a mistake," he 
said. 

"Made a mistake?" interrupted the 
crowd, alarmingly. 

"Yes ! — you see it was just like this; there 
were two bottles behind my trunk at the 
time; but in the hurry of the moment I, un- 
fortunately, picked up the wrong one and 
handed it to Frankinton. That one, I re- 
gret to tell you, contained German rot-gut 
imitation brandy I had purchased to give 
the butcher of the Crescent City, in return 
for a keg of ^blue points' he had brought for= 
me from New York ; the other bottle, which 
I bought for my own personal delectation, 
is behind my trunk now." With which 
announcement the boys were simply 
astounded; but Frankinton, who had deter- 
mined within himself, come what may, not 
to be outwitted by Scotty, turned quickly 
around and winked at Hudsin one of thjOse 
deep-meaning winks of his in which there 
was the reflection of further plot and con- 
spiracy! Hudsin, who was standing at the 
doorway at the moment, interpreting the 



A TALE OF THE OLD 139 

signal immediately, left the crowd unno- 
ticed and \yent into Scotty's room on tip- 
toe, and took the other bottle of brandy 
away and hid it in his own apartment. 

When Scotty returned to his room again 
he discovered that the other bottle had van- 
ished also; but never a word, afterwards, 
did he say to the boys in connection with 
the incident, in which his bluff about the 
Crescent City bottle had not worked out at 
all, and in which he had been completely 
vanquished. 



An Unheeded Warning 



An Unheeded Warning. 

(A Story of the Isthmus of Panama) 
(Period, 1904) 

The uews had spread like wild-fire: Mor- 
gan had been, at last, defeated — Nicaragua 
was nowhere her vaunted route had sunk 
forever into the wild womb of uncreated 
undertakings! Panama was on top; for the 
Hay-Bunauvarilla Treaty, the outcome of a 
well planned and heroically executed Seces- 
sion, had passed the United States Senate 
by a vote of Sixty-six to Fourteen ! Panama- 
nians were jubilant over the consummation 
of their long-cherished dream; and Colon 
and Panama had given themselves up to 
Chinese fire-crackers, music and bunting, in 
celebration of the dawn of a new Isthmian 
era. Colombia was crestfallen at the loss 

of the gem of her possessions! 
143 



144 PANAMA PICTURES. 

New York was all excitement too. On 
the L's and on the trolley-cars, Panama was 
rampant; for people, young and old, dis- 
cussed the news over their morning papers, 
in which some readers had become so en- 
grossed that they were carried blocks away 
from the stations at which they had in- 
tended to get off. 

Wall Street was rife with speculations 
anent the ten million dollars which the 
United States Government had agreed to 
pay the Kepublic of Panama for the right to 
construct a Canal through its territory; 
and to some brokers the occasion seemed, 
no doubt, a possible opportunity for a 
'spec\ 

The New York newsboys were simply in- 
tolerable with their unearthly shrieks that 
rent the air : 

"Herald ! — Sun ! — Journal ! — World ! 
— Times ! 

"Latest news — Der Panama Canal is sold I 
Uncle Sam's got it, dead sure, this time — 
buy a paper, sir?" And they'd thrust a 
paper in your face just when you were hur- 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 145 

rying to catch an L-express or a crowded 
surface trolley-car. 

"Sixty-Six to Fourteen had become 
world-wide ubiquitous. In New York City 
the news was known in every quarter — even 
along the docks; for in a ferry station, in 
the neighborhood of West 27th Street two 
men sat down discussing Panama over the 
morning paper. The two were James Low- 
ley and Dick Scanton; the latter having 
been down to Pier 57, North River, to meet 
the steamer which had just arrived from 
Colon, to get some news of the Isthmus. 

To Panama, Lowley was a stranger ; to 
Scanton not; for he had been there in the 
palmy days of '81-87; but left after the 
crash of '88 which ruined so many! Scan- 
ton, however, had been one of Fortune's 
favorites, for he had taken away with him 
sufficient money to last a thrifty disposi- 
tion, such as his, for the balance of his life. 
Now, it was just sixteen years since he had 
retired from the Isthmus; yet many and 
many was the day he had felt the potent 
charm of the Chagres water, and, so, longed 



146 PANAMA PICTURES. 

to return to the old haunts again — to the 
land of palms and ravishing sunsets! Ow- 
ing to increased years and to the impaired 
condition of his health, the longing never 
materialized; but, let it be said, and to his 
credit, that his interest in the Isthmus en- 
dured all through the entire period of his 
absence. He, therefore, naturally, felt a 
deep thrill of gratification rise up in his 
heart when the glad tidings reached him 
that dear old Panama had triumphed at 
last. 

Lowley was still occupied reading his pa- 
per when a tall, slim, handsome young fel- 
low stepped up and interrupted him — 

"Hello there I'' he called out in a voice 
that smacked of long acquaintanceship, 
"What's that you're reading about that, ap- 
parently, interests you chaps so much?" he 
asked, eagerly; and "The Panama Canal," 
was Lowley's quick response. 

"Tell me all about it !" exclaimed Charlie 
Willinger, the new-comer, "for I might take 
it in my head to go to the Isthmus and try 
my luck there. Things here," he continued, 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 147 

"have gone mighty hard with me lately: 
I've been out of a job for months now, and 
the little money which I had put aside for 
the 'rainy day' in the proverb, is almost fin- 
ished — in fact I don't know what I shall do 
if something does not turn up in a hurry." 
In answer to which Lowley thrust into Wil- 
linger's hand the morning paper he had 
been reading, sajdng: 

"There you are, Charlie, read it for your- 
self"; which he did too and to his heart's 
content ; for when he gave the paper back to 
Lowley, you could have seen a gleam of 
hopeful light shining in his eyes, and a 
smile all over his countenance as he re- 
marked : 

"Well, Jim, here's a chance for us at last ! 
Don't lose the opportunity; let's make up 
our minds to go to the Isthmus; we're both 
doing nothing at present, and you really 
don't know what might be our luck that 
side. And, say, I tell you what; I'll make 
this deal with you, old fellow : the one that 
gets a job first will look out for the other 
until he is fixed also. Come now, what do 



148 PANAMA PICTURES. 

you think of the scheme? Is it a go or not? 
— come, now, answer quickly!" 

Here, Dick Scanton, who had, so far, 
proved himself to be a pretty good listener, 
had evidently decided that the time had 
now come for him to cease playing audi- 
ence, and to put in a word or two ; for, all of 
a sudden, he threw himself back into his 
chair, crossed his legs serenely, stuck his 
thumbs through the armholes of his waist- 
coat, and thus unburdened himself: 

"Tut — tut — tut, man!" he exclaimed, 
with a note of deep astonishment in his 
voice, "Go to the Isthmus now," he said, 
"when nothing at all is doing? — the Treaty 
only ratified a few hours ago! — madness, 
boys ! simply madness on the part of both of 
you to entertain such a thought just at this 
particular moment — I guess you must be 
off your cabez! both of you! I should think 
the most sensible way to go about this 
thing at all, would be to wait till Uncle 
Sam commences digging in real, true earn- 
est; but to go now, to my mind, is almost 
out of the question. See here, Charlie, my 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 149 

boy, I have been to the Isthmus, and I know 
just what I'm talking about— was there in 
the early rush of French Canal days, when 
people flocked to Colon to look for employ- 
ment, and were compelled, soon after, to 
return to their respective homes, because 
they saw, at once, that they had come too 
soon." 

After this somewhat lengthy sermon, in 
every word of which there was truth and 
wisdom, Scanton rose fiom his seat, looked 
at both men with that serious air which 
generally characterizes the man who gives 
advice to others, and then resumed to the 
finish : 

"Now, boys," he said, "I've got to leave 
you; don't, for heaven's sake, make any mis- 
take about this thing at all. Think it over 
well before acting definitely. In the mean- 
time, however, should you need any further 
advice from me, come to my room, both of 
you, whenever you think it necessary" ; say- 
ing which, Scanton left his two friends 
alone to wind up the Panama discussion, 
which was resumed with increased vigor 



150 PANAMA PICTURES. 

and interest. The first one to reopen the 
conversation was James Lowley: 

"Charlie," he said, timorously, "it's all 
very well and good for you to talk about 
going to the Isthmus ; but, tell me, will you, 
Where's the money to come from to pay our 
way to Colon? It costs just thirty dollars 
to get there — steerage accommodations at 
that; and while it's very true that I could 
get the 'dough' from Scanton, I must con- 
fess that I would not like to ask any favors 
of " 

"Neither would I !" interrupted Wil- 
linger; "but, say, what's the matter with us 
working our way down? The voyage, as 
you know, is only seven days run, and I 
certainly see no reason why we could not 
rough it for that short while; so, come on, 
now; talk quickly and let me know what 
you decide, for this is Saturday, and the 
boat sails for Colon on Tuesday afternoon, 
which gives us, as you see plainly, very lit- 
tle time for thinking. If you agree to it, 
we'll go to the steamer on Monday morning 
and state our case to the captain" ; to which, 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 151 

however, Lowley remained perfectly silent 
for a moment: Willinger, he thought, was 
too importunate; and in fact, the whole 
proposition was all too sudden for him. 

And so, stroking his hair, Lowley posed 
in an attitude of deep contemplation ; and if 
one could only have read his thoughts then, 
they would, possibly, have found them asso- 
ciated with the picture of a seasick amateur 
sailor, or, haply, with that of an awkward 
waiter staggering around a ship's table! In 
this frame of mind, he finally made answer: 

"Charlie, before I give you a definite re- 
ply, let's call on Scanton — to-morrow, say 
— and get his promised and last advice on 
this momentous affair" ; and the suggestion 
being agreed upon, Willinger and Lowley 
walked out of the ferry-station together— 
the one with new hopes burning within 
him ; the other, sceptical of the future. 



152 PANAMA PICTURES. 



II. 



Charles Willinger, who was born in New 
York, was a young man about twenty-nine 
years old; lean and lanky and delicately 
built, with deep-set pale blue eyes, within 
whose dreamy depths you could have seen 
the light of true, stern, honest manliness. 
Firm of character, and possessing a power- 
ful will of his own, whenever Willinger took 
a notion into his head, that was the end oJ: 
it : there was no changing his mind at all 
and so, with him, the Panama trip was a set 
tied question altogether. 

James Lowley was thirty-six years of age 
heavily set and short in stature, with dark 
brown eyes and a fair complexion. Physi 
cally, he was the stronger man of the two, 
but, by far, the lesser in grit and character. 
Educated liberally in the public schools of 
the cities in which they were born, Wil- 
linger and Lowley had gathered enough 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 153 

good sense to enable them to earn a decent 
livelihood for themselves wherever they 
went; but through gambling on the part of 
one and drink on the other, hard luck had 
followed them both lately; and now that 
reformation had come to them at last, Wil- 
linger, like the drowning man in the old 
proverb, looked on Panama as the "straw" 
to catch at. 

Lowley was a Western man; but he had 
lived in New York City for the past ten 
years, for five of which he and Willinger 
had been inseparable comrades. During 
the other five years Willinger resided in Ne- 
braska, where he met an only sister of Low- 
ley's — a tall, handsome girl of sixteen sum- 
mers—and fell in love with her; but after 
a very short engagement, Mabel, for some 
reason or other, unknown to all but herself, 
gave him the cut, which broke his heart 
until, in the utter despair of the moment, he 
"chucked his job" and took the first train 
out for New York City. Yet, with it all, he 
bore up patiently, and kept the secret of his 
love so well locked up within him, that not 



154 PANAMA PICTURES. 

even his best friend had ever been taken 
into his confidence. The object of his love 
and he alone, were the only ones that knew 
about it all ; well, and perhaps, too, the lit- 
tle golden charm that hung around his neck, 
secreted under his singlet, — the locket, and 
the picture inside, which Mabel had given 
to him before their lovebonds had been 
severed. 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 155 



III. 

It v(SLS Sunday morning. In a modestly 
furnished room in a small apartment house, 
situated in the Bronx, New York City, Dick 
Scanton, alone and pensive, sat looking 
over some "curios" which he had brought 
with him from the Isthmus of Panama long 
years ago. The collection was a weird and 
unique one, consisting of stuffed birds of 
rich, rare plumage, stuffed iguanas, ancient 
rosaries, carved and painted tutumas, prim- 
itive jewelry made by the San Bias Indians, 
pottery of every description, a varied as- 
sortment of sea-shells, many-shaped and 
tinted, and, last of all, a bottle containing 
some pure white liquid stuff that might 
have been water. 

Picking up this bottle, which, it appears, 
had engaged the greater part of his atten- 
tion, Scanton gazed at it with a deep, cun- 
ning look from the corner of his left eye, 
and thus soliloquized : 



156 PANAMA PICTURES. 

"Well, yes, I've changed my mind alto- 
gether. I'll advise them to go : nothing like 
seeing for oneself. Lowley, it is true, did 
not seem inclined to take the trip when we 
talked the matter over yesterday; but if the 
beggar shows any signs of fear when we 
again resume the subject, why, then," he 
said, "you," addressing himself to the bot- 
tle, which he still held in his hand, "will 
likely settle the question without any 
further argument." With this, he returned 
the bottle on the table, and as he did so, an 
impatient rap was sounded upon the door. 

The first idea that struck him when he 
heard the alarm was, that he had been over- 
heard; and he, therefore, hesitated for a 
moment before he would respond to the 
summons; but he finally opened the door, 
and as he did so Charles Willinger stood 
before him, 

"Good morning, Scanton," he said; "how 
are you? I've come, according to arrange- 
ment, to hear your final views about this 
Panama trip of ours; but I might just as 
well tell you from now, that no matter what 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 157 

may be your opinion on the subject, / have 
fully made up my mind to go. Your advice, 
therefore, can only affect Lowley, who, by 
the way, is still against the movement; but, 
as I have stated before, that will cut no fig- 
ure with me at all ;" saying which, Willinger 
turned around and drew a chair close up to 
the table, on which the strange "curios" 
were lined off in exhibition-array. 

He had no sooner sat down than he began 
to examine everything carefully — asking a 
thousand questions about each article in its 
turn; but when he came to the bottle, his 
curiosity reached the climax! Picking it 
up, he looked at it with the gravest scru- 
tiny, turned it upside down several times, 
shook it vigorously, then asked, with the 
most solemn unction: 

"For heaven's sake, Scanton, tell me, 
what, in the world, does this here bottle con- 
tain?" But before the question was an- 
swered another knock was heard at the 
door, through which, on being opened. Low- 
ley dashed into the room, panting — almost 
out of breath, 



158 PANAMA PICTURES. 

Willinger saw at once that something un- 
expected had happened, and so he exclaimed 
outright : 

"Holy Gee, Lowley! — what, in the devil, 
is the matter with you now? Why, bless 
my soul, you're as pale as a ghost ! Has any- 
thing gone wrong since I saw you last? Or 
perhaps your present excitement is due 
mainly to your having come in suddenly for 
a legacy, and are here now," he added jocu- 
larly, "to tell us of your good fortune" ; in 
reply to which Lowley pulled a newspaper 
from his pocket, and, pointing to an article 
headed, in great big type, WARNING, said 
nervously : "There you are, my good fellow 
— read tliatl" . And this is what the paper 
said: 



"People here and abroad are hereby warned against 
going to the Isthmus of Panama to seek positions at 
this particular juncture; for work in real true earnest 
has not yet begun on the Canal; preliminary surveys, 
sanitation and organization are the principal features of 
work engaging attention to-day. It might also be stated 
that labor is plentiful, with little or no demand. In 
the higher grades of employment, nothing is offering; 
trade is dull, and the Merchants are crying out bitterly; 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 159 

the time, therefore, has not yet come to go to the 
Isthmus, and we advise people to stay where they are 
until conditions are settled, due and timely notice of 
which will be given to our readers. 

All of this Willinger read without a ruffle 
on his countenance; then he quickly turned 
to Lowley and remarked reprovingly : 

"Jim, old chap, it takes mighty little to 
scare pou, I see ; why, you're shaking like a, 
jelly-fish! Got the Chagres fever already? 
You certainly don't mean to tell me that 
you take any stock in that blood and thun- 
der newspaper talk, do you? Nonsense, 
man! I'm really surprised at you! Any- 
how, your not going will cut no figure with 
me, I can tell you; for sure as you stand 
there, / have made up my mind to go, come 
what may!" 

For a moment LoAvley was full of dumb 
astonishment at what he considered to be 
the rash determination of Willinger, for 
whom he felt such keen anxiety that cold 
beads of perspiration rolled down his fore- 
head — bead after bead; but, finally, he 
braced himself uid and said Avith a nervoug 
tremor in his voice: 



160 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

"Charlie, I'm not exactl^^ afraid to go ; but 
that article which you've just read gives 
good reason enough why we should not 
start for the Isthmus now. It would be all 
very well and good," he continued, by way 
of emphasizing the gravity of the situation, 
"were we both sure of striking something as 
soon as we got there ; but you see there is no 
certainty about that, and there's just where 
the entire difficulty lies ! Nineteen hundred 
and seventy miles is a long way to go, my 
good fellow, in search of Avork and then find 
nothing but disappointment. No, sir ! New 
York City is a good enough place for me 
just at this present moment; I'm in no 
hurry; the Isthmus can wait a bit yet for 
me, Charlie; so count me out of your mad 
scheme, for I cannot call it anything else. 
Why, hang it," continued Lowley, who by 
this had been wound up to a pitch of ner- 
vous excitement on the subject, "don't you 
remember what Scanton told us the other 
day about Monkey Hill, and how they used 
to dump the dead there when there was no 
money to pay for a decent Christian burial? 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 161' 

Gee!" he exclaimed with a shudder, and a 
cold feeling running all down his back, "I 
fancy I see that horrible black coffin now 
before me with its incongruous inscription 
on top, ^Pohre Solemnidad/ ^' . 

Here, Scanton, who had been listening 
patiently, unable to restrain himself any 
longer, went off into a loud peal of laughter 
that shook his very frame. Then, by way of 
prefacing what he had resolved in his mind 
to say, he stretched himself out to his full 
length, drew his waistcoat down, peered 
into the troubled depths of Lowley's eyes, 
and, gazing upon the bottle that lay upon 
the table among the "curios," said in a 
serious tone of voice : 

"Jim, old boy, don't worry about that 
coffin story any longer; those will be things 
of the past, you bet, as soon as Uncle Sam 
gets a-hold of things on the Isthmus; but, 
say, that isn't your real trouble; what's the 
matter with you is this: you need a tonic 
badly"; and with this Scanton walked 
across the floor to a little cupboard that 
stood in one corner of the room, and took 



162 PANAMA PICTURES. 

from it a small flask of good old rye, which 
he held up to his company saying: 

"Now, boys, come along; draw your 
chairs closer to the table and have one with 
me! nothing like a good, stiff drop, I tell 
you, when a man is not feeling just up to 
the mark" ; and as he said so, he passed the 
flask around until the three glasses glowed 
with the liquor. Lowley, who, it seems, had 
taken least of any, called for water imme- 
diately. 

"Can't take straight hooze any more," he 
protested; so Scanton quickly picked up 
from the table, the bottle he had brought 
with him from the Isthmus, tapped upon it 
approvingly; and, holding it over Lowley's 
glass said: 

"Here you are, old chap, the best water 
you ever drunk in your life! Talk about 
your Croton? Why, Jim, it isn't a patch to 
this," he said, his hand clutching the neck 
of the bottle. Now sing out 'when' ". But 
the 'When' came after the liquor in Low- 
ley's glass had been drowned beneath an 
over-supply of water, Finally^ all hands 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 163 

clinked glasses together, and Scanton 
toasted his friends : 

"Here's looking at you, boys, and good 
luck to both of 3^ou !" whereupon the three 
men tossed their tragos down and resumed 
their seats at the table. 

Settling himself again comfortably in his 
chair, Willinger pulled from his pocket a 
great, big "whackin" cheroot, which, after 
many attempts, he finally succeeded in 
lighting, at the cost, though, of a veritable 
carnage of lucifers! The "weed" lit, Wil- 
linger soon began to puff away for all he 
was worth, and puffed and puffed and 
puffed until at one time it seemed as if he'd 
need a plaster of monster draught at the 
back of his neck to help him do the "draw- 
ing." It was a tough old proposition of a 
cheroot, that, but the man behind the smoke 
proved himself, at last, equal to the diffi- 
cult undertaking. Willinger smoked com- 
placently on, and listened to the interesting 
tales that Scanton told of the Isthmus ; 
while Lowley sat quietly watching the col- 
umns of curling smoke that rose from Wil- 



164 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

linger's cheroot up to the low-bent ceiling, 
till all of a sudden he sprang to his feet and 
broke out excitedly : 

"Charlie, give me a pencil and some pa- 
per quickly — quick now, before I forget it 
all !" 

His strange request complied with, Low- 
ley laid the paper down on the table, ran the 
pencil deftly over it, till from the magic of 
his hand there grew upon the paper charac- 
ters that were not altogether unfamiliar to 
Scanton, who wondered under what strange 
influence could the pictures have been so 
correctly conceived and printed; but when 
he remembered the bottle, the whole thing 
dawned upon him, and so he bothered his 
head no longer. Suddenly, his tracing 
done, Lowley raised his head and brought 
his hand down with such a thud upon the 
table that the glasses on it rattled, and the 
flask lost its equilibrium and no small por- 
tion of its liquor! Then Lowley proceeded, 
at once, to explain the meaning of his ap- 
parent delight, which had cost him so much 
embarrassment. 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 165 

"See here, Charlie," he said, pointing to 
the figures on the paper, "this is what I've 
just seen in the wraiths of smoke from out 
that so-called, cigar of yours — look at it, 
will you? Thousands of men at work dig- 
ging the Canal ; the great Culebra Cut teem- 
ing with life again; excavators and engines 
snorting and puffing and whistling in ap- 
parent delight over their resuscitation; the 
busy streets of Colon; the stores there 
crowded with customers." Then Lowley, 
who, it was evident, had been vanquished 
completely, ceased his graphic description, 
drew in a long breath, and extended his 
hand across the table, saying: 

"Put it there, Charlie! Hit or miss, I'm 
with you this time : I've made up my mind 
to go and cast my lot with you; so let's call 
on the Skipper early in the morning and see 
if it cannot be arranged for us to work our 
way to the Isthmus." 

By this, Scanton could stand the sus- 
pense no longer : he had been amused listen- 
ing all the while to the little laughable pro- 
ceedings which had gone on between his 



166 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

two visitors, and now he felt it was his turn 
to speak. So, with a smile of triumph that 
lighted up his whole countenance, he rose 
from his seat, and said with much delibera- 
tion: 

"Lowley, I knew that bottle, or what was 
in it, would have fixed you all right — have 
never known the stuff to fail yet — it's sim- 
ply wonderful! I didn't want you boys to 
go at the beginning; but I've thought the 
matter over, and have come to the conclu- 
sion that it will do you no harm to get a 
little knowledge of that new and interesting 
Republic, where you'll have to drink more 
than enough of the water that has just 
worked such a strange and wonderful charm 
on Lowley!" 

When Scanton had finished speaking, he 
saw a very puzzled look overclouding the 
faces of his two friends; but all that he 
would say as further explanation of the 
matter was: 

"Boys, the water which you have just 
drunk, boasts of a legend as old as the very 
hills themselves. When you get to the Isth- 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING. 167 

mus, talk to the men who have lived there 
for years and years, and they will tell you 
why they have gone and returned, and why 
it was that they just couldn't stay away." 

But Willinger and Lowley were none the 
wiser after Scanton had got through speak- 
ing; and so, with the same puzzled look 
upon their faces, they left the room, and 
,went their way home — both of them filled 
with the mystery of the water in the bottle. 



168 PANA31A PICTURES. 



IV. 



The Monday morning that Willinger and 
Lowley had fixed to call upon the Skipper 

of the " " to ask him to take them to 

Colon, dawned, at last, for these two men. 
It was, in sooth, a day mixed with hopes 
and fears for both of them; nevertheless 
they were up betimes, and out on the noisy 
streets, cheerfully going about, as they 
thought unto themselves, the very last mis- 
sion of their lives! Finally they reached 
the pier at which the steamer was lying; 
and Willinger who, as it had been pre- 
viously arranged, was to do the talking, left 
his friend on the dock and boarded the ship 
in search of the Captain, whom he soon 
found and told what he wanted — 

"My good fellow," replied the Comman- 
der after Willinger had unburdened him- 
self to him, "this is not the time for you to 
go to the Isthmus! Why, hang it, there 



Al^ UNHEEDED WARNING. 169 

isn't a blessed thing doing there yet; and 
it seems to me you'd have sense enough to 
remain where you are rather than go to the 
Istlimus at this unsettled stage of the 
game; but, of course, it's just like the rest 
of 3 on people up here : jou imagine because 
a Commission and a few civil engineers 
have gone to Colon that work on the Canal 
is in full blast already; but you never made 
such a mistake in all your life, I can tell 
you ! The fact is, in my opinion, it will be 
some months yet before anything in the 
shape of Canal work proper will be at- 
tempted; therefore, be advised by me and 
stay where you are for the present." To all 
of which the undaunted and persistent 
pleader, by way of answer, opened up an- 
other and more powerful onslaught' of sup- 
plications, before the earnestness of which 
the Captain felt himself compelled to capitu- 
late; for he finally consented to include the 
two men on the ship's papers that voyage. 

The interview over, Willinger left the 
steamer, whistling, "For he's a jolly good 
fellow," by way, no doubt, of eulogizing the 



170 PANAMA PICTURES. 

captain and giving expression to the satis- 
faction he more or less felt over the result 
of his much dreamt-of mission ; for when he 
stepped from the gang-plank on to the dock, 
his face was lighted with smiles as he said to 
Lowley : 

"It's all fixed, Jim, Ave're to be on board 
to-morrow morning at 9 o'clock sharp; the 
boat sails at 1 p. m,, and we're to go before 
the mast " 

"Go before the mast!" exclaimed Lowley 
in a voice of unmistakable terror, as he 
stepped back a pace or two and began to 
turn his hands over, over and over again, by 
way, it seemed, of protesting against their 
performing such menial service as the one 
that had been assigned to them. 

"Why, yes, Jim, and what about it? — bet- 
ter men than you and I, I can assure you," 
said Willinger philosophically, "have done 
the selfsame thing at one time in their lives, 
and considered it no disgrace at all — tut ! — 
tut! — tut, man! What, in the name of 
heaven, did you expect anyhow? You, cer- 
tainly, didn't think, for a moment, that you 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 171 

^yere going to occupy the Skipper's state- 
room, and his seat at the saloon-table — did 
you? If you did, say, 'forget it' at once! 
May going before the mast, my boy, be all 
the harm that might attend us in this un- 
dertaking of ours; so, come on now, and 
quit fooling with your hands, which, let us 
admit, are beautiful and tender, if by so 
doing, it will give you pleasure. And yet, 
perhaps, it would be better if you looked 
instead upon the cheerful side of things, 
and believe, despite of present conditions, 
that all will be well at the end" ; after which 
little exhortation, off they both went to tell 
Scanton that they were sailing the next day 
for the Isthmus— the new EI Dorado. 



172 PANAMA PICTURES. 



V. 



It was in the month of April, 1904; the 
sun was shining brilliantly, silvering every- 
thing around New York City and the 
suburbs. The trees along the streets and 
avenues had just begun to rehabilitate them- 
selves with infant leaves and summer bloom 
on every bough. On the sidewalks, the tiny 
sparrows skipped and hopped, and twittered 
a merry song as Willinger and Lowly lei- 
surely Avent their way towards the steamer. 

Stopping upon the road once to take in, 
so to speak, a last look of their late sur- 
roundings, Willinger remarked in a voice 
that smacked of forced cheerfulness : 

"That's right, Jim; take in all the sights 
while you have the chance of doing so; for 
we don't know when we'll ever be this 
side of the Avorld again ! Then again, where 
we're going to, we won't come across any- 
thing like that sky-scraper before you now; 
neither will we find L's there at all — only 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 173 

apologies for coaches, drawn by horses, like 
the one of Mark Twain's creation — hat- 
racks! But that is neither here nor there 
to either of us; so let's be moving"; with 
which command, they both resumed their 
journey and did not stop again until they 
reached the pier, where they found Scanton 
waiting for them. 

"Well, boys," he said, "I've come to wish 
good-bye and God-speed to both of you. 
Keep a stiff upper lip, Jim; and, say, 
don't you put up such an ugly face as that, 
when you are just about to cross the waters 
■^it's bad luck, and enough to stir the wrath 
of all the storms pent up in the four quar- 
ters of heaven! So, brace up now, and get 
aboard cheerfull}^," advised Scanton, who 
remained on the steamer with his two 
friends until the last gong was sounded, and 
a coarse sailor-voice yelled out shrilly : 

"All ashore that ain't a-going to Colon !" 
Then everything on deck was bustle and con- 
fusion; everybody ran to and fro excitedly, 
jostling against each other in their mad, sad 
endeavor to get their share of farewell kisses 



174 PANAMA PICTURES. 

and hand-shakes, which came to an abrupt 
halt when the ship sounded a shrill blast of 
her whistle, that stirred some hearts with 
emotion! Then followed the handkerchief 
season, and not a few tears were shed. Fin- 
ally the last gang-plank was lowered, and 
the Captain on the bridge, sang out at the 
top of his voice : 

"Le' go your stern line!" To which com- 
mand the answer came back promptly : 

"All clear aft, sir!" following which, an- 
other deep blast of the ship's whistle was 
heard, as the steamer moved slowly and 
majestically out to sea, midst the waving of 
hats and handkerchiefs from all, Scanton 
doing his share of it to his two outgoing 
friends, who had just begun the first chapter 
of their Isthmus adventure. 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 175 



VI. 



On the first night out at sea, strange 
dreams were those that haunted poor Low- 
ley, who, pessimistic as he always had been 
over this Panama trip, in which he thought 
he had been practically coerced, got some- 
how or other, to look upon his dreams in the 
light of an evil prophecy; so much so that, 
growing nervous about them, he proceeded, 
the very next morning early, to relate the 
whole thing to Willinger, who, however, by 
way of emphasizing his scepticism in all 
such matters, drove him away, saying : 

"For heaven's sake, Jim, go along with 
your foolish nightmares, and give me a rest, 
will you ! Don't believe in dreams, anyhow ! 
— never have, and never will, 'world with- 
out end, amen' — guess you must have eaten 
something last night that didn't quite agree 
with that delicate digestion of yours; and 
that's all there is to it; so go now, and get 



176 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

started in your work before the Mate comes 
around and finds you loafing !" 

After this unsympathetic rejoinder, Low- 
ley went his way and dreamt no more on 
the uneventful balance of the voyage, the 
seventh day of which saw himself and his 
friend safely landed in Colon. 

As soon as they reached the dock, on 
which they were the very first ones to alight, 
they began to gaze wistfully around, when 
Lowley saw, in the distance, a short, stout, 
bow-legged gentleman, who was busy at the 
time, superintending the landing of the pas- 
sengers' baggage which was to be sent across 
the Road on a special train leaving almost 
immediately; and it was to this gentleman 
he walked up and addressed himself : 

"Pardon me, sir," he said with an air 
of respect that showed good breeding; 
"we've just got in on the boat from New 
York, and, being strangers, would feel 
obliged for any information you could give 
us about this place, of which we have been 
hearing so much lately. While in the States 
we were told that things were booming down 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 111 

here, and so we decided to come on the 
chance of getting a job either with the Rail 
Road or the Canal Commission. What do 
you think are the prospects, sir? We need 
work quickly, for our funds are rather 
limited." 

At the moment, Louie was taken aback 
for an answer, because he knew, full well, 
that things were by no means what they 
had been represented abroad to the unfor- 
tunate strangers, for whom he felt keenly; 
but he finally gathered himself up, and said, 
in reply to the question that had been put to 
him: 

"Gentlemen, I'm sorry to tell you that you 
have heard all wrong. Outside of some lit^ 
tie sanitary work that is going on, and great 
plans of organization, there is really noth- 
ing doing that's worth talking about; any- 
how, it will do no harm for both of you to 
look around and see the exact condition for 
yourselves. I do not wish to discourage 
you, but I am afraid you have come too 
soon." 

To the two strangers, all this was, natur- 



178 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

ally, a very great disappointment; for they 
had travelled nineteen hundred and seventy 
miles, under unpleasant circumstances at 
that, but to be told that "There was nothing 
doing yet." 

Observing the look of distress upon their 
faces, Louie said to them, encouragingly : 

"Never mind, gentlemen, don't give up 
the ship yet, — never say die, even up to the 
last moment; if it does happen that you do 
get stuck finally, why then, come and see 
me, and I'll do the best I can to help you out 
of a box" ; with which assurance, the two 
fellows picked up their grips and, with 
them, as much courage as they could possi- 
bly muster, and left the dock to seek lodg- 
ings in the town. 

Limited means, of course, compelled them 
to select the cheapest, which was a Chinese 
restaurant, situated in Bottle Alley, at the 
rear of the Passenger-station of the Panama 
Rail Road Company. The room assigned 
to them measured no more than ten feet ten, 
and, as for the furniture, well, this consisted 
of two canvas folding-cots, two straw-pil- 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 179 

lows, that had no covers on them (no sheets 
at all), two chairs that might have reigned 
from the time Columbus discovered Amer- 
ica, one crippled table, that stood upon three 
legs — the wall doing crutch-service for the 
missing one — and a candle stuck into an 
empty bay-rum bottle that stood upon the 
table. 

The walls and ceiling of the apartment 
were black with the smoke and smut of 
years' opium; and as for the floors — well, 
you could have planted in the soil that cov- 
ered them, and at the end have reaped a 
pretty fair harvest! 

And so, in a frame of mind that can bet- 
ter be imagined than described, Lowley 
gazed around the room looking completely 
dumbfounded! After a short while, how- 
ever, both men laid their grips upon the 
chairs, exchanged quick glances with each 
other, and for a moment there was deep si- 
lence, which Willinger was the first to 
break. 

"Gracious goodness, Lowley! why do you 
put on such a long face as that, will you tell 



180 PANAlMA PICTURES. 

me? As for the room, don't worry about it : 
I shall see that it is scrubbed out nicely the 
very first thing in the morning; so come on, 
now, and let's take a short stroll along the 
streets in order to get acquainted with the 
town. I think that will do us more good 
than sitting here, moping over things, which 
cannot be remedied immediately." 

It was not long after this little speech of 
Willinger, that the two men were out on 
the streets, going along Calle Frente, the 
principal thoroughfare of the town, and 
thence to Cristobal, the late French Settle- 
ment, which is now the head-quarters of the 
Isthmian Canal Commission and its em- 
ployes. On their way, they stopped to talk 
with merchants, who complained to them of 
the sad state of business at the moment ; but 
who felt certain that, as soon as the Ameri- 
cans had gained a good foot-hold in the 
place, things would grow immeasurably bet- 
ter. The only thing that Willinger and 
Lowley found booming at the time, was 
land, every desirable lot of which had been 
taken up by local and foreign speculators at 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 181 

enormous prices; and they, therefore, saw, 
at a glance, that the present outlook was 
gloomj^ and that there was no immediate 
hope for them, in the way of obtaining a 
position. And so, on their way back to the 
restaurant, Lowley, who was deeply con- 
cerned over the gravity of the situation, 
which he had turned over carefully in his 
mind, took the opportunity of saying : 

"Well, Charlie, I guess we had better go 
back to God's Country by the same steamer 
that brought us here; for, really, I do not 
see the use of waiting any longer : the place 
is as dead as a door-nail — darn my soul if it 
isn't! I could just kick myself for coming 
so soon. My first intention was to wait till 
things had got better ; and I regret now that 
I did not carry it out to the letter." 

"Oh, give us a rest, Jim!" interrupted 
Willinger; "why, hang it, we've only just 
got in on the boat and you begin to talk 
about returning already! I'd like to know 
what kind of a man you are, anyhow ! Can't 
you have a little patience and make up your 
mind to face the music as cheerfully as 



182 PANAMA PICTURES. 

Mark Tapley did when he went to Eden? 
Why, Jim, you don't know what might turn 
up for us yet; as for me, despite of your 
pessimism, I'm hoping it will be trumps! 
Anyhow, we have no time to lose over senti- 
ment : we'll have to be up and doing ; to-mor- 
row morning we must see if we can get any- 
thing to do, either with the Road or with the 
Commission." But nothing that Willinger 
said succeeded in striking one ray of hope in 
Lowley's disappointed mind and body. 

The day waned to evening; supper-time 
had come, and both men sat down to their 
first meal in Colon, with little or no inclina- 
tion to eat at all. Around the table, which 
had no cloth upon it — nothing but the bare, 
grim, naked boards that revealed again the 
extreme misery of the place — were seated, 
on wooden benches, a motley crew composed 
of Coolies, Italians, Chinese, and Jamaica- 
negroes, almost every one of them besotted 
in liquor, a so-called rum or seco, concocted 
in this Chinese den. 

Loud talk and the foulest kind of lan- 
guage filled the room uproariously — to say; 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 183 

nothing of the unpleasant combination of 
odors that arose from this mixed and de- 
graded gathering ! 

In the midst of the terrible uproar, Low- 
ley, by way of "drowning his thoughts and 
killing time," began to beat a lively tattoo 
upon his glass with a knife that had as 
many notches in it as an old cross-cut saw 
had ; finally, he laid the knife aside, re- 
moved the glass a little bit from him, and 
remarked to Willinger in a voice that sa- 
vored of extreme disgust : 

"This, Charlie, is the toughest, darn place 
I've ever struck in my life! And just think 
of it, too: sitting at table with a mob like 
this ! — some of them niggers at that ! — I'll 
swear it's more than I can put up with, and 
we'll have to get out of this as soon as we 
can." 

It was just at the end of this speech that 
Ling Foo, the proprietor of the restaurant, 
clothed in a cotton singlet, his only upper 
garment, which was black with kitchen- 
smut, stepped in with Willinger and Low- 
ley's supper; and, tossing both plates 



184 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

quickly down upon the table, strutted out 
again with an air of importance that might 
have been worthy of a Chinese emperor! 
Business was booming that evening; and so 
Ling Foo, who Avas cook and waiter at once, 
had no time to lose over his customers, of 
whom there were lots outside waiting to fall 
into the first vacant seats that offered. 

The bill of fare, which was served up in 
apologetical crockery, consisted of rice, 
hacalao — and the meanest kind of codfish it 
was too — tasajo, a kind of dried native 
meat, baked in the sun and sold by the yard; 
yam, yucca and plantain, with a finale of the 
now ubiquitous banana. 

With the exception of the last mentioned 
course, the two men left their meals un- 
tasted, and went out to the streets in the 
direction towards the beach, to forget their 
troubles, if that were possible. 

The night was calm and beautiful; not a 
ripple stirred upon the waters; in the 
heaven, that was without a cloud, the white 
moon rolled and a million stars lit up their 
torches ; the low-lying west was still 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 185 

streaked with moribund shadows of the 
dead day's sun; and, like a diamond set in 
the night, a large lone star gleamed out, sen- 
tinel-wise, over the Toro Lighthouse! 

Leaving the beach, the two men walked 
down Front Street, where they came to a 
well known saloon, before which they 
stopped, and finally went in to get a fresco, 
for the long walk had made them somewhat 
thirsty. 

The only table available at the time, was 
one at which a short, stout gentleman sat 
with a glass of beer before him, and puffing 
away at a concha. His coat and vest were 
off, and he wore a pair of "patent double 
million magnifyin' microscopes of hextra 
power," which quickly focused the stran- 
gers, who, at the invitation of the stout gen- 
tleman, seated themselves at the same table. 
Immediately after they got settled in their 
chairs, Willinger sang out to the muchacho 
behind the bar: "Two lemonades, please!" 

That these two unfortunate men should 
have found their way to this particular sa- 
loon, was, indeed, a happy inspiration; for 



186 PANAMA PICTURES. 

Nitram Ginhigs, the proprietor of the estab- 
lishment, was a man worth knowing. He 
had been on the Isthmus ever since 18—, 
without once, it is said, having taken a vaca- 
tion. Ginhigs knew everybody; everybody 
knew Ginhigs — in fact, everybody had to 
know him; for he was a man to be counted 
upon in every emergency! With a heart 
that was always larger than his pocket, he 
had sent away, at his own expense, from 
time to time, many a poor stranded fellow 
rather than see him perish on the spot; and 
this, perhaps, is the reason why good old 
Nitram staid on forever! With an educa- 
tion beyond the mediocrity, his conversation 
was always interesting. In the history of 
Europe he simply excelled ; and as for when 
you drew him out on the Irish question, 
well, then, you had him at his best; for he 
was a most powerful Irishman ! 

He loved the higher arts, and was fond of 
poetry, particularly Moore's, many of 
whose poems he could rattle off, from mem- 
ory, as fluently as if he had just got through 
learning them for some special occasion; in 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 187 

fact, so intense was his admiration for 
Moore, that many of the songs of this fa- 
mous Irish singer are to be found gracing 
the walls of his saloon to-day. 

But to return to our two unfortunate 
travellers. It was over their lemonades 
that they scraped the acquaintance of 
Kitram, whom they told of the mistake they 
had made in coming to Colon so soon; with 
which Ginhigs coincided, of course, while on 
the other hand he counselled patience. Then 
the conversation turned, at last, to other 
things of the Isthmus: the proprietor told 
them some thrilling stories of the '85 period; 
of the troublous times of '98 to '02; and, 
coming to things of a yet later date, he 
waxed warm and dwelt most graphically on 
the events of the ever-memorable 3rd and 
4th of November, 1903, which, happily, re- 
sulted in the birth of a new Eepublic, and 
thus made possible the conditions for the 
union of the two great oceans by the favored 
Panama route. Then their talk drifted 
upon the tide of Canal matters, over which 



188 PANAMA PICTURES. 

Ginliigs was becoming quite loquacious; but 
Willinger, sipping away at the "tail end" of 
his lemonade, succeeded in edging in the fol- 
lowing question : 

"But, tell me, Mr. Ginhigs, when do you 
think that work in real, true earnest, will 
begin on the Canal? I mean actual digging 
and excavating, and buckling down to busi- 
ness in every sense of the word !" 

"My dear good fellow," came the answer 
promptly, "you ask me a question that is 
not very easily answered ; and I should state 
further, that, judging from the tone of voice 
in which you put it, you underestimate alto- 
gether, the magnitude and importance of the 
work that is to be accomplished ! Why, man 
alive! can't you understand that it is not 
only the building of a Canal at issue? There 
are so many other things to be done before 
the Earth can be disturbed from its long 
years' slumbering. First of all, there is or- 
ganization, which must take time in a con- 
cern that involves the greatest engineering 
feat that the mind of man has ever con- 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 189 

ceived yet. Then, there is sanitation, which 
has been so sadly neglected by the late Pa- 
rent-Government ; again, there is the build- 
ing of suitable quarters in Colon, along the 
line of Eoad, and in Panama for the housing 
of employes, of whom there will be thou- 
sands coming — to say nothing of the con- 
struction and equipment of up-to-date hospi- 
tals for the accommodation of the sick ; and, 
to go further, the installation of a good 
water-service, so greatly needed on this 
long-suffering and patient-waiting Isthmus 
of Panama! When all these things shall 
have been finished, you can then expect to 
see the dirt fly, but not before ! At this stage 
of the game, gentlemen, we cannot expect 
more than preparatory work, which is al- 
ways the most difficult part of any under- 
taking. What shall we say then when it 
comes to such a mammoth one as this? — 
when it comes to demolishing mountains, 
deviating the courses of rivers ; shifting rail- 
road track-beds; and, what is the greatest 
problem of all others, disposing of the dirt 



190 PANAMA PICTURES. 

excavated on the line! My dear, good fel- 
lows, if I know anj^thing about this matter 
at all, I really do not see how work on the 
Canal proper, can begin before two years 
are over our heads; so that, if my judgment 
be correct, it is evident you have come too 
soon." 

It was just 11 o'clock when Ginhigs 
brought his somewhat lengthened, though 
sensible, argument to a close ; and, the hour 
being late, the two strangers rose from their 
seats, bade good-night to the genial publi- 
can, and took their way to their room, there 
to give their troubles up to two hard pil- 
lows, on the like of which they had never 
laid their heads before. 

The night was long and weary; plenty of 
mosquitoes, and consequently, very little 
sleep for Willinger and Lowley, who were 
therefore, glad when they heard the cacho 
blowing, and when they saw the first gray 
glimmer of the dawn, with which they were 
up arraying themselves in their "Sunday 
Penitentials." Bv § o'clock both of them 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 191 

were out, going the rounds in search of em- 
ployment; but everywhere they went to, 
they received the self-same crushing an- 
swer: 

"No vacancy at present." 



192 PANAMA PICTURES. 



VII. 

It was the Invierno Season, in the month 
of May 1904; the rains had just begun to 
fall copiously, and the dear little martins 
were returning from their summer nooks, 
across the Ba}^, somewhere, to take up their 
old abodes among the stately cocoanut-trees 
that rim the beautiful sea-front of Colon. 

Two long, weary weeks had passed since 
Willinger and Lowley had landed from the 
steamer; but, despite of all their efforts, 
going from place to place each day in search 
of something to do, they were still without 
employment. And so, as time went on, the 
situation grew from bad to worse ; for, what 
was more serious than all, the little money 
they had brought with them from the States 
had gone all but a few ftesosl It, therefore, 
occurred to them, at once, that they had 
reached a point where it was a case of "des- 
perate diseases requiring desperate reme- 
dies;" and so, sitting down one morning in 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 193 

his room talking the situation over with 
LoAvley, Willinger said : 

"I tell you what it is, Jim, we'll have to 
begin to get a move on us now ; for this state 
of things cannot continue much longer. 
We're now almost at our tether's end for 
money, and what I'm worrying most about, 
is how we're going to pay that hard nut of a 
Chinaman downstairs the ten dollars bal- 
ance we owe him on our board and lodging. 
It seems to me, therefore, that the time has 
come for us to do something, no matter what 
it may be, so long as Ave can earn enough 
therefrom to keep us from starvation ! What 
do you say to calling on the Stevedore at the 
American Wharf, and finding out whether 
he can do anything for us or not? You will 
remember what he said to us on the morning 
of our arrival here: his words were, 'Come 
and see me in case you get stuck' ; and if we 
ain't stuck now, Jim, why I would just like 
to know what we are then. 'Stuck/ I should 
say we are ; but I suppose there is some way 
out of the difficulty, and so, let us proceed to 
find it, because there is no time to lose." 



194 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

Here, Lowley became quite pensive; he 
had been listening in bent attitude; his 
hands closed together and stuck between his 
knees, his eyes fixed steadily on one particu- 
lar spot on the floor; but he finally raised 
his head, and, in a voice that was full of 
resignation to the inevitable, said: 

"Well, Charlie, all right; if it has to be 
old chap; I'm ready to go Avith you now"; 
with Avhich both men arose synchronously, 
picked up their sombreros, and left the room 
in a hurry. 

They soon found Neslo, who was busy at 
the time, attending to the stowage of a large 
lot of wine, put up in barrels, which had 
come in from Panama on "No. 8" the even- 
ing before. As the two men approached 
him, Neslo saw at a glance that the fellows 
were in trouble, Avhich impression Avas 
quickly confirmed by Willinger, who stepped 
forward, saying: 

"Good morning, Mr. Neslo ; we've come to 
ask if you can do anything for us. We're 
willing to shove a truck even, if you'll only 
give us a show, sir; and green as Ave are in 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 195 

that sort of business, we'll do our best to 
give you satisfaction." 

As a matter of fact, Jamaicans and For- 
tune Islanders Avere the kind of labor chiefly 
employed by Neslo ; but it is on record, that 
it was never known yet for the Stevedore to 
send away a white man in need of work 
when emploj^ment could be found on the 
dock for him. 

So, when the two stranded travellers ap- 
plied to him for a job, Neslo pulled a narrow 
slip of paper out of his pocket, stuck the 
pointed end of a pencil between his ample 
lips, pulled it out again, and began figuring 
upon the quantity of freight he could expect 
for the steamer which was sailing within a 
day or so. His calculations finished, he 
said, in his usual familiar manner: 

"All right, boys, you can start to work 
the next 'third,' which is 1 o'clock. See 
those two trucks lying in the corner over 
yonder? Pick 'em up when you come, and 
go at it cheerfully ; it's the best I can do for 
you now; but never mind that: you don't 



196 PANA3IA PICTURES. 

know how soon something better might turn 
up for both of you." 

Promptl}^ on time, and according to ar- 
rangement, the two men returned to the 
pier, backed their coats, and started to work 
in real good earnest ; but the keen-eyed Steve- 
dore saw immediately that the poor fellows 
were not accustomed to shoving a truck ; for 
he noticed that they oftentimes jostled 
against the other laborers, to the extent, oc- 
casionally, of upsetting the loads they car- 
ried. This, naturally, tickled all the negroes 
to death; for they thought to themselves, 
"Well, de boss not gwine put up wid dat sort 
of t'ing very long"; over which idea they 
chuckled, of course, because it is a well 
known fact, that the negroes never wanted 
to see any other but people of their own 
color Avorking on the dock among them. The 
presence of a white man laboring with them 
was always certain to evoke the negroes' re- 
sentment, which took the degraded form of 
loading the white man's trucks with bur- 
dens that were almost impossible to carry! 
But it did not take long for Williuger and 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 197 

Lowley to discover that there was a plot on 
foot against them; for tlie very first morn- 
ing on which they went to worlv, they over- 
heard the following in a vernacular that 
was strange to both of them : 

"Hi, Brown ! Look dem 'merican white 
men de shove truck, eh? My son, dem don' 
kno' one damn t'ing about it at all! Fo' 
every time dem go, dem sure fe upset what 
dem de carry. Dem jus' done bus' up a 
Avhole barrel o' pilot biscuits, de chupid 
t'ings dem! But me well an' glad tho', for 
dem have no right 'pon de dock at all. But 
'top, no, I gwine f e fix dem f o' true ; de nex' 
time dem come with dem trucks, I is gwine 
fe give dem such a load dem never wi' able 
fe carry, and den me wi' see how dem like de 
job dem have here." 

The man who spoke thus was a tall Ja- 
maica negro, who wore a slouch-hat, that 
shaded a pair of large fierce eyes, which 
might have fitted the very devil himself! 
and this of course, Avas the fellow who had 
been delegated by his paisanos to perpetrate 
the act of jealousy, in which, however, the 



198 PANAMA PICTURES. 

negro had been foiled, because the threat 
was promptly reported to Neslo, who, in lan- 
guage not by any means poetic, told the fel- 
low he would dismiss him if he attempted to 
annoy "those two white men." 

After this, everything went on smoothly, 
and Willinger and Lowley found constant 
employment on the dock ; but hard work and 
exposure in a tropical climate had, at last, 
begun to tell on both of them : their figures 
were bent, and the crimson flush of the 
boreal winters that was on their cheeks 
when they landed, had vanished completely ! 
In fact, they were not the same men at all; 
yet they worked on cheerfully, hoping that 
something better would turn up for them 
soon. But there came a day when only 
Lowley reported for duty; Willinger had 
taken sick the night before, and he was 
unable to leave his bed the next morning. 

"Guess the work went hard with him," 
said Lowley to the Stevedore, in answer to 
his inquiry; "and then, you see, sir," he con- 
tinued, "the poor fellow was never accus- 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 199 

tomed to anything like this — really, I don't 
know how he stood it for as long as he did! 
I thought he would have caved in long be- 
fore this. Last night he had a terrible chill, 
that shook the very cot upon which he lay ; 
and such a burning fever set in that I be- 
came alarmed and called in a doctor, who 
was a bald-headed man, with a red face, and 
a pronounced Jewish nose — I can't remem- 
ber his name now for the life of me ; but that 
cuts no figure at all; suffice it to say, he 
seemed a pretty good sort of fellow, and took 
an interest in the case at once. He gave my 
friend some medicines, and made no charge 
for them whatever ; neither for his visit ; but 
that I think was because Charlie saved his 
dog the other day from being run over by a 
switch engine in the yard." 

"I'm sorry, old chap," said Neslo, "to hear 
such sad news about your friend — let me 
know if I can do anything for him" ; and 
with this, the last cacho sounded, and Low- 
ley ran off in a hurry, picked up his truck, 
and worked till 9 o'clock, the breakfast hour. 



200 PANAMA PICTURES. 

Too worried to partake of the morning's 
meal, he went direct to his cheerless room, 
and as he entered upon the threshold of it, 
Willinger said to him, somewiiat feebly: 

"So glad you've come, old chap; thought 
you would never have shown up here again ; 
I'm feeling mighty rocky, I can tell you : my 
back is almost breaking in two, and my head 
— Gee! — it's just on fire! — and such a 
thirst as I have on me — nothing seems to 
quench it in the least way — tried to swallow 
some tea the Chinaman gave me a while ago, 
but couldn't : it was the vilest stuff I had 
ever put to my lips yet" ; and as Willinger 
uttered the last word, he felt so exhausted 
that he threw his head back upon his 
hard straw pillow , and tossed and tossed 
about the cot, unable to find, in any 
change of posture, a moment's peace or 
ease — nothino; but weariness and the cease- 
less shiftings of his body; at all of which 
Lowley became so alarmed and excited, 
that he walked across the room, two or 
three times, in deep meditation; and, 
pausing, finally, at the doorway, the frame- 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 201 

work of which he held up as if to adjust his 
equilibrium, said : 

"Charlie, I'll be gone just for a few min- 
utes" ; and, without another word from him, 
as to the nature of his mission, off he went, 
returning shortly with Doctor Ladnar. 

"You'll have to get the fellow out of this 
here den pretty quick, I tell you !" was Lad- 
nar's first prescription, as he took off his hat 
to mop his bald head, which glistened as 
though it had just been anointed ! Then he 
pulled a thermometer from out his waist- 
coat pocket, and shook it up and down at a 
lively pace two or three times or more ; after 
which performance he stuck it gently under 
the patient's tongue, and as he drew the in- 
strument out again and examined it, he 
turned away with an ominous shake of his 
head, and beckoned to Lowley, who followed 
him, and to whom he said in a low whisper : 

"105 ! — your friend is pretty sick, sir, and 
I advise you to get him into the hospital as 
quickly as possible; so you had better go 
right now and see 3^our boss, and have him 
arrange the matter for you'' ; over which in- 



202 PANAMA PICTURES. 

structions not a moment was lost; for with- 
in an hour or so after the doctor had ordered 
the removal, the patient, thanks to Neslo, 
was comfortably settled in the Rail Road 
Hospital on the beach. 



'AN UNHEEDED WARNING 20S 



VIII. 

The hospital, which was built over the sea, 
commanded a pleasant view of the harbor. 
It was a two-story wooden structure, with a 
veranda all around it, and the back of the 
building looked towards the Orient. In this 
direction it was that Willinger occupied a 
room, and his great delight, each morning, 
was to watch the sun rise over, and silver, 
the Santa Rita Hills in the distance. Haply, 
with each successive dawn, there came to 
him the hope that the next day would find 
him on his legs again ; and yet little thought 
he that time was Avhen he might not have 
seen more than one sunrise from the same 
hospital ! But this was in the days of Doctor 
Quackmire, a man Avho believed in making 
quick work of his patients, and who always 
left it to a tall, handsome lady, dressed in 
ever-ready epicedial garments, to atone for 
his crime with the meaningless tears that 



204 PANAMA PICTURES. 

slie was wont to shed at the graves of his 
unfortunate victims, — in short, Quackmire 
was a veritable Mount Pelee ! 

This condition of things, however, did not 
prevail for long: the Powders that Be soon 
discovered that Quackmire was incompe- 
tent, and so, dismissed him summarily; as a 
result of which, this would-be doctor packed 
up his traps and returned to his northern 
home, taking with him the small fortune he 
had made, in a comparatively short time, 
from the harvest of his fatal prescriptions 
— the tall, handsome, lady, of the free and 
easy falling lagrimas, accompanying him, of 
course. 

Happily, however. Doctor Ladnar was 
called in to take Quackmire' s place ; and the 
appointment turned out to be a good one, be- 
cause, even if he did, like Lulu Glaser, love 
dogs, Ladnar proved, in every instance, that 
he knew his business thoroughly ; for he was 
most successful in all his cases. If he didn't 
succeed in knocking the Chagres fever out of 
your system by the aid alone of those nice 
medicines, calomel for one, which he often- 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 205 

times prescribed, he would eventually do so 
by adding a few of those broad, happy 
smiles of his, which generally lighted up a 
sick-room as he entered it ; but that was not 
to be wondered at at all, because, putting 
aside the fact that he was naturally of a 
genial and jovial disposition, he was the doc- 
tor of the Sunshine Society of Colon. 



206 PANAMA PICTURES. 



IX. 



It was Sunday morning, and the peace of 
the Sabbath Day lay like a benediction over 
the city. From the tower of the picturesque 
Christ-Church on the Beach, the bells tolled 
out the early mating and Willinger started 
as he heard the first chimes. Haply, the 
sound of them had stirred within him the 
memory of a bygone time, when he, as a 
boy, had been wont to kneel in his church 
at home, side by side with his mother, the 
two of them chanting together the Lord's 
Prayer! Perchance her dear, sweet, face 
rose up from the dead past before him, for 
he wept like a child. 

Wiping away the tears from his eyes, he 
stretched his hand over to a chair that stood 
at his bedside, picked up a small bell which 
lay upon it, and rang for Nosilmot, the 
nurse, who answered the summons imme- 
diately. 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 207 

"Yes, sir; what can I do for you?" the 
Nurse asked gently as he approached Wil- 
linger. 

"I want you," replied the sick man feebly, 
"to call that gentleman you've noticed com- 
ing here so often to visit me. His name is 
Lowley, and you'll find him on the American 
dock. Tell him to come here at once: I 
want him urgently"; which command was 
promptly obeyed, for Lowley was soon with 
his sick friend, enquiring tenderly : 

"Hello, old chap, how are you feeling now, 
and what can I do for you?" in answer to 
which, the patient stared blankly for a mo- 
ment, but finally replied— pausing before 
each word to catch his breath, which came 
and went with dififlculty — 

"Jim, my good fellow, I'm sinking rap- 
idly; you and I have been friends for long 
years now, and, so, before I die, I wish to tell 
you something I had never told you yet." 

Then the sick man rested for a brief space, 
in the hush of which Lowley picked up Wil- 
linger's hand, and pressed into its icy palm 
the eloquence of his enduring friendship! 



208 PANAMA PICTURES. 

Finall}^, in the silence, that was broken only 
by the rhythmic splash of the breakers from 
far, far, seas upon the near, near shore. Wil- 
linger withdrew his hand from Lowley's and 
pulled from under his cotton singlet a 
golden locket, attached to which was a bit of 
blue silken ribbon, which he gave to Lowley, 
saying : 

'Take this, Jim; it's all I have to give 
you ; but promise me this : you Avill not open 
it until I'm dead. She gave it to me, Jim — 
the girl I loved as no man ever loved a 
woman yet; but she jilted me because the 
tide of luck had turned against me, and all 
that I had possessed was lost! I came here 
for her sake onl}^ thinking to make lots of 
money to enable me to win her back again; 
but it's all over now, old chap, it's all over; 
for soon I shall be far — far — ^oh, ever so far 
away! Tell her, when you see her, as you 
will some day, I know, that I have forgiven 
her — that I thought of her and loved her to 
the last — yes, to the very, very last! Great 
God, though, is it possible that I shall never 
gee her dear, sweet face again?" lie said, 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 209 

with much emotion, as, in his anguish, he 
raised the locket to his parched lips and 
kissed it o'er and o'er again till, overcome 
with exertion, he fell into a deep swoon, 
which lasted for some little time. When he 
awoke he saw that Lowley was still by his 
bedside, and he said to him, with a nervous 
tremor in his voice: 

"Here yet, Jim? — so good of you to have 
stayed so long with me; but it's just like 
you, Jim — you dear, dear, fellow!" 

And the patient was not wrong ; for Low- 
ley had remained in the hospital the whole 
of that Sunday helping to nurse his sick 
friend ; now smoothing his pillow ; now ad- 
justing his wasted body in a comfortable po- 
sition; now throwing back the scattered 
threads of hair that lay across his marble 
forehead, until it came to evening, Avhen, see- 
ing that Willinger rested calmly, and that 
death was not yet imminent, he left the hos- 
pital and went to his room to rest. 

The next morning early, however, he re- 
turned to the hospital and found Willinger 
in a delirious condition and nearing the end, 



210 PANAMA PICTURES, 

"Charlie I — Oh, Charlie ! — don't you know 
me?" asked Lowley, who bent down over 
Willinger, listening to catch the answer for 
which he so eagerly awaited; but never a 
word came back to him from the lips of the 
dying man — nothing but a fixed, glassy 
stare, that had in it the soul-deep eloquence 
of a last and pathetic farewell I Soon, how- 
ever, Willinger swayed restlessly on his pil- 
lows; lifted his hand slowly and moved it to 
and fro in the air, as if to catch at some- 
thing that was hovering around him; then 
his lips trembled, and he articulated in his 
last wanderings, and with his latest breath : 

"Jim, — where — are — you? — haven't 
seen — you — for — such — a — long — 
long — time ! Jim — look — over — there 
there — yonder — can't — you — see — 
her? — it — is — she — Jim — the — same 
— sweet — face — beckoning — to — me — and 
— telling — me — good-by — God — bless — 
her! But — Jim — where — are — ^you? I 
cannot — see — your — face — Jim — the 
lights — are — out — and — the — night 
— has — grown — so — dark — and — cold — 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 211 

good — by — Jim — Good — G-o-o — " he said ; 
but the last word was lost in an echo, for 
just then the dying man gasped two or three 
times, and stiffened out his wasted limbs — 
his eyes closing gradually; finally, a hollow, 
gurgling sound rattled in his throat, and, 
with one last struggle, that shook his very 
frame, Charlie Willinger, despite of Lad- 
nar's skill and Nosilmot's careful nursing, 
fell into that dreamless sleep, from which 
there is no awaking. 



212 PANAMA PICTURES. 



X. 



Thie next day Willinger was laid to rest in 
the quiet little cemetery at Mount Hope, 
situated some two miles distant from Colon. 
The funeral cortege was a scant and simple 
one, composed only of Louie Neslo, Nitram 
Ginhigs, Nosilmot, the hospital nurse, the 
Padre and Lowley, and four negroes, who 
had been engaged to carry the coffin up the 
hill, whereon the countless dead of Colon 
sleep their last, long sleep beneath the shade 
of the kingly palms and the guava-treeB, that 
drop their golden blossoms upon the graves 
of the rich and poor alike ! 

The burial over, the funeral train re- 
turned to the city, soon after which Lowley 
was in his cheerless room alone. Taking his 
hat and his coat off as he entered, he walked 
out on the balcony to scrape from off his 
shoes the dull, red earth they had gathered 
on the hill, when, lo ! he beheld the setting 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 213 

sun ! The west was all aglow with a great, 
red ball of liquid fire, wound about with 
clouds of silver gossamer and bars of gold, 
that touched the waters and all around with 
a beatific splendor ! Then Lowley's troubled 
soul, no doubt, went out to the peace that lay 
athwart the Occident, for, as he stood up 
watching the dead day's sun sink gradually, 
down beneath the crimsoned Atlantic, that 
stretched out in the distance before him, 
there rose from out the depths of his heart a 
sigh so heavy that it echoed on the the still 
night air. As the last ray of the expiring 
sun went down, Lowley repaired to his room, 
drew a chair close up to the table, on which 
a dull candle-light flickered, and sat down 
to write. 

"My Dear Scanton : I have some very sad news to 
give you — poor Willinger is dead ! He passed away 
yesterday, and I'm just from the funeral. I'm sorry 
we ever came here so soon ; it has been a great blun- 
der, for which, however, we are the only ones to blame 
— poor dead Charlie and myself ! I sometimes try to 
school myself to the belief that we did it for the best ; 
but when I remember that we came to the Isthmus im- 
mediately after the ratification of the Treaty with 
Panama, when nothing was doing, I see the mistake 



214 PANAMA PICTURES. 

clearer yet before me. I shall be glad to get out of this, 
which I'm trying very hard to do, by the very first 
steamer; but, unfortunately, I have not sufficient means 
to cover the value of the passage; in fact, I'm on my 
last dollar. " 



Here he dropped the pen abruptly, and in 
quite an agitated manner. There was the 
memory, it seemed, of something overshad- 
owing his face, which wrinkled beneath the 
impression of it; his head drooped, and his 
right hand moved slowly towards his pocket, 
from which he, finally, withdrew the golden 
charm which Willinger had given to him 
upon his dying-bed, and which he held close 
up under the dim candle-light, scrutinizing 
it with eyes that looked ever so far away. 
At last, however, he drew the locket nearer 
to him, opened it, and when he recognized 
the picture it contained, he started violently 
and exclaimed aloud: 

"Great Goodness! — it's my sister, Mabel. 
Why didn't he tell me about it before he 
died? — I might have done so much to recon- 
cile matters between them both ; but it's too 
late now — too late," he repeated, as he 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 215 

stretched his arms out at full length acro:^s 
the table, and buried his face between them. 

Weary with the late vigils at Willinger's 
bedside, he soon fell into a quiet slumber, 
from which, however, he was suddenly awak- 
ened by the touch of a hand upon his right 
shoulder. Raising his head, and turning 
around to see who was the intruder, he came 
face to face with Nitram Ginhigs, who had 
stepped in on a visit of condolence. 

"See here, my good fellow," said Ginhigs 
in his usual sympathetic manner, "this sort 
of thing will never do at all— you'll have to 
brace up and 'face the music' like a man! 
Tell me, is there anything I can do for you?" 

"I'm sure, Mr. Ginhigs, it's extremely 
kind of you, a perfect stranger," responded 
Lowley, in a voice that trembled with appre- 
ciation, "to interest yourself so much in 
me; but," he continued, "the only thing I 
see that you can do for me just at this pres- 
ent moment, is to tell me, sir, how to get out 
of Colon quickly. I admit that I came here 
too soon; and that the fault is mine; but 
then I have suffered and paid dearly for it 



216 PANAMA PICTURES. 

all !" To which, however, Nitram Ginhigs 
made no answer. Silently meditating, he 
adjusted his spectacles upon his ample nose, 
dug deep down into his pocket, by no means 
as large as his heart, and pulled from out of 
it something that glittered like gold, which 
he left in Lowley's hand, and quietly walked 
out of the room without saying a single 
word to the recipient of the secret of his 
charity! But there Avas nothing strange 
about this : it was Nitram Ginhigs all over ; 
for he was a man who never waited for, nor 
wanted, thanks for all the good he had done, 
from time to time, in the town; and heaven 
only knows hoAV much of gratitude, if any at 
all, he ever did receive for the manifold 
charities which he dispensed to the stranded 
ones, with whom he came in contact daily. 

"Well, I'll see him and thank him myself 
to-m.orrow," said Lowley, as he put the 
money away and resumed his letter to Scan- 
ton: 



"Glad to say I leave for God's country by the next 
s.teamer positively; will tell you all when we meet; 
don't fail to write to my sister, Mabel, in Nebraska 



. AN UNHEEDED WARNING 21T 

(you know her address) ; inform her of my home- 
coming, and. relate to her my condition exactly — sajj" 
that I hope to be with her shortly. 
With kindest regards, believe me, 
Yours very truly, 

James Lowlby." 



218 PANA3IA PICTURES. 



XI. 



About a fortnight after Lowley had 
dispatched his letter, he found himself in 
New York City once again. As he walked 
down the gang-plank of the steamer, with a 
grip in his hand that, apparently, was not 
overburdened with clothes, Scanton greeted 
him with a friendly : 

"Glad to see you back, old boy. How sad 
about poor Willinger ! It seems just like the 
irony of fate; for I remember well, that he 
was the one who urged the trip and was so 
bent on going to the Isthmus ; but tell me all 
about it; of yourself and of Charlie's last 
moments in that far-away country." With 
which the two men, arm in arm, walked 
away together and stood up on the dock 
talking for quite a while. Their conversa- 
tion over, Scanton handed a sealed envelope 
to Lowley, who opened the same and found 
that it contained a letter from his sister, 



AN UNHEEDED WARNING 219 

Mabel, inviting him to come and make his 
home with her in Nebraska, where, she 
wrote, to say, she had become a prosperous 
school-teacher; and in the same letter she 
enclosed sufficient money to pay her 
brother's way over, and to purchase for him 
whatever clothing he might need to make 
himself presentable. 

It was not long after Lowley's arrival in 
New York that he proceeded to Nebraska. 
Finally, when he met his sister, Mabel, who 
had not seen him for years, she was shocked 
to see the change that had come over him, 
and so, she wept like a child; for she no- 
ticed that Lowley's cheeks were pale and 
hollow, his frame bent, and that his eyes 
were yellow ; but when she recognized about 
her brother's person, the locket which she 
had given to Willinger, in days gone by, the 
climax of her sorrow was reached, and the 
old love quickened again within her! It all 
seemed more than she could bear up under, 
at once; and so, sickened with the memory 
of the past before her, she threw herself 
upon a near sofa, and sobbed and sobbed and 



220 PANAMA PICTURES. 

sobbed as if her very heart would break be- 
neath the burden of it all — 

"Oh, Charlie! You dear, dead Charlie!" 
she cried aloud, "if sweet forgiveness be the 
power of the dead, forgive me, Charlie — for- 
give me, as God will forgive us all !" 



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